Autoimmune Diseases Are on The Rise, Here’s Why It Should Matter to You

In the case of autoimmune diseases, in particular, there is a specific loss of tolerance to self. The immune system is unable to distinguish its own tissues and a real threat like microbes and toxins. It does have a number of inbuilt mechanisms that helps it to differentiate between host and foreign tissue. However, a hyper vigilant and long activated immune system that is reacting to threats continuously can become dysregulated over time.1

The Perfect Storm

There is a trio of factors called “the perfect storm” that triggers chronic autoimmune activation. 

They are:

1. 1. Enhanced intestinal permeability aka leaky gut
   2. Genetic factors
   3. A weak or imbalanced immune system and a trigger.

Sometimes the trigger is a specific ongoing infection, a specific food or a highly stressful or traumatic phase in life. Underneath, there is a weak and imbalanced immune system that allows this chronic autoimmune activation. In this sense, autoimmune diseases are actually a dis-ease of the immune system.

As you see now, there are only a few root causes for chronic autoimmune activation.

There are more than 80 autoimmune diseases that fall into the same category. While they may have names completely different names, these diseases are not really all that different since their underlying mechanisms are not all that different. What makes it even more confusing is that the names of autoimmune conditions don’t tell us anything about which organ or part of the body is being affected.

So, while Graves and Hashimotos affect the thyroid gland, Lupus is a systemic disease, Multiple Sclerosis affects the brain and spinal cord and Psoriasis affects the skin.

Interestingly enough, autoimmune diseases affect women disproportionately more than men.

A Chronic Mismatch

In addition to this, there is a chronic mismatch between the lifestyle that we lead and the life experiences that we want to have.

This means that the environment that we are asking our body to live in (whether intentionally or not), is often filled with toxins, nutrient poor foods and high levels of stress. However, the life experience that we are looking for is on where we have high energy levels, be able to reproduce easily, grow, thrive and enjoy life.

We are constantly exposing our bodies to inflammatory triggers like:

• High sugar, processed, nutrient poor foods
• Environmental toxins
• High stress levels
• Poor quality of sleep.

What has helped our species to survive over millions of years is now working against us. The thing is, our body is designed to prioritise survival over everything else. So, if we are constantly living in an environment that seems threatening to our immune system, our body goes into a “chronic survival mode”. Being in survival mode activates an immune response and is lifesaving in dangerous situations.

However, it becomes counterproductive and even harmful for us in the long run.

What’s At the Root of All This?

While there are many factors at play in the rising incidence of chronic illnesses, including autoimmunity, the three main reasons are:

FOOD

TOXINS

STRESS

This creates a vicious cycle of interconnectedness.

First, nutrient poor food reduces the level of nutrients available for an already activated and alarmed immune system. This is because a lot of foods can look like a toxin particularly if they are filled with artificial colours, additives, and flavouring.

Second, toxins use up a lot of nutrients in order to manage their metabolism. Toxins also can be a source of physiological stress as the body recognizes them as foreign. They also impact our energy production at a cellular level by damaging our mitochondria (where energy is produced)

Third, stress also impairs digestion and reduces our ability to absorb nutrients from food. It also depletes those nutrients themselves by ramping up the body’s need to metabolize stress hormones. And finally, chronic stress impairs detoxification and our immune function

All of these challenges our immune systems’ ability to function smoothly, differentiate between friend and foe, and remain appropriately tolerant at most times.

This is important because our immune system’s primary responsibility is to assess the threat and not respond 99% of the time. Healthy immunity is actually about tolerating the vast majority of what we encounter in our environment.

But the world that we live in today makes it really easy to be exposed to a huge number of triggers that is a threat to our survival.2

As a result, our immune system becomes overwrought and overworked due to these constant inflammatory triggers. We end up with an immune system that is poorly regulated depending on what our day-to-day choices are. If this is not addressed, we can end up with a highly dysregulated immune system which is the beginning of autoimmune activation.

Your responsibility is to play your part in creating an environment that lets your immune system know that the world is a safe place.

Reference: 

1. Adam Schiffenbauer and Frederick W. Miller. Noninfectious Environmental Agents and Autoimmunity. The Autoimmune Diseases (Sixth Edition) 2020: 345-362. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-812102-3.00020-8
2. Margaret E. Sears and Stephen J. Genuis.  Environmental Determinants of Chronic Disease and Medical Approaches: Recognition, Avoidance, Supportive Therapy, and Detoxification. J Environ Public Health. 2012; 2012: 356798. Published online 2012 Jan 19. doi: 10.1155/2012/356798