AUTO-IMMUNE DISEASES
and
HOW TO AVOID
THEM
Published August, 2008 by Cambridge Naturals: www.cambridgenaturals.com
The diseases classified as
auto-immune are legion. Over eighty,
according to Donna Jackson Nakazawa, author of The Autoimmune Epidemic: Bodies
Gone Haywire in a World Out Of Balance and the Cutting Edge Science that
Promises Hope (Touchstone/Simon & Schuster, 2008). Among the most familiar are diabetes type I,
lupus, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis. But do you know anyone with Addison’s?
Crohn’s? Grave’s? Meniere’s? Sjogren’s?
This is definitely a book
with a mission – to stimulate more medical attention to auto-immune diseases –
but that does not keep it from also being very instructive. One in twelve Americans has been diagnosed
with one or another of these ailments, which almost matches the number with
either cancer or heart disease. Yet the
budgets for research greatly favor the latter two. Ms. Nakazawa would like to see a concomitant
increase in research to match what she sees as a new epidemic.
Why this new epidemic? The presumptive perpetrators are heavy metals
and industrial chemicals – the ones we eat (pesticides, preservatives,
flavorings, etc.), the ones we breathe, the ones we drink, the ones we touch
and the ones that touch us (household cleaners, cosmetics, flame retardants on
clothes and bedding). They are
everywhere and on a scale never before in human history.
What happens when our bodies
react? Some liken it to “friendly fire”
in war time. The immune systems
apparently get “battle weary” and begin, mistakenly, to think some of our own
tissues are also alien and should be put out of commission. So, with multiple sclerosis, for example, the
immune system attacks the central nervous system, damaging the myelin sheaths
that cover the nerves. It’s interesting
to note that allergies are similar up to a point, in that the immune system is
reacting (or over-reacting), but usually to something specific and
ascertainable, like a shrimp or a peanut.
AIDS, on the other hand, poses a contrary sort of problem, in that the
AIDS virus attacks the immune system, instead of the other way around.
What can you do to avoid
these illnesses? Obviously, try to avoid
possible triggers and the harmful substances alluded to above. As there is increasing speculation that
viruses may trigger auto-immune diseases in susceptible people, staying healthy
becomes ever more important. Besides exercise and fresh air, you might consider
your diet – is it healthy enough? Be
sure that you obtain anti-oxidants by eating fresh fruit and vegetables. If you think you might be low on this score, you
could look into the possibility of an oxidative stress test. Be sure, also,
that your omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acid ratio is as close to 1-to-2 as you can
manage. This means more grass-fed eggs
and beef, fish, flaxseed, walnuts and less of anything containing corn or fed
on corn. Spice things up with curcumin
(cayenne), garlic, ginger, and turmeric.
These are, in their different ways, considered immune system boosters. Lacto-fermented food (kimchi, kombucha, miso,
sauerkraut, yogurt) provides yet other tonics for your immune system.
The last “be sure” is to be
sure to get some rest, as stress exacerbates the potential for auto-immune
disease.
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