Autoimmune Conditions
Get your body working for you again.
A healthy immune system protects your body from germs and illness. But sometimes, inflammation, infection, trauma, or genetics can cause the immune system to mistakenly harm its own healthy cells and tissues. When you suffer from an autoimmune condition, your body is essentially in revolt against itself.
Think of your immune system as a reliable security guard for your body, attacking foreign invaders and eliminating bacterial or viral threats. Normally, this happens quietly and efficiently. However, with an autoimmune condition, that security guard gets confused and starts attacking the very systems it’s supposed to protect.
This can cause a variety of health problems, depending on which parts of the body are affected. Examples of common autoimmune conditions include rheumatoid arthritis, where the immune system targets joints, and type 1 diabetes, where the body attacks cells in the pancreas.
If you suffer from autoimmunity, you are not alone. There are 80+ autoimmune conditions affecting around 7% of the global population.
Why do autoimmune conditions happen?
There is no single cause of autoimmune disease. In fact, most autoimmune conditions are triggered by a combination of genetics and environmental influences. The most common factors include:
Genetic Predisposition: While autoimmune diseases aren’t inherited in the way you might have your mother’s blue eyes or your father’s curly hair, some people are more prone to autoimmunity due to their genetic makeup.
Infections: Viruses like hepatitis and Epstein-Barr (the virus that causes mono) are frequent culprits in the onset of autoimmune disease, as are common bacterial infections including strep, staph, tickborne pathogens, and h. pylori (the bacteria that causes stomach ulcers).
Environmental Factors: Toxins, pollutants, and chemicals often play a role in autoimmunity, a troubling fact considering the almost-unavoidable exposure to pesticides, microplastics, and heavy metals that is now a part of modern life.
Diet and Lifestyle: Our daily routine often involves factors that are proven to increase the risk of an autoimmune response, including unaddressed allergies, food sensitivities, poor sleep or exercise, and prolonged stress.
Don’t be afraid to dig deeper.
Just as autoimmune conditions don’t have one straightforward cause, they can also create a wide range of symptoms, making them hard to identify. That confusion can create a dangerous domino effect, since the longer an autoimmune condition continues unchecked, the more susceptible the body is to other autoimmune disorders.
The moral of the story is clear: Trust yourself. If you feel off, or if you suspect that there is more to what you’re experiencing than just a few bad days, keep asking questions.
Below are brief overviews of six common autoimmune diseases. However, the category can include Sjogren’s syndrome, alopecia areata, vasculitis, digestive disorders, and more.
Celiac disease is the most severe form of gluten intolerance. When people with celiac disease consume gluten (a group of proteins found in wheat, barley, and rye), their immune system attacks the lining of the small intestine.
Multiple sclerosis is a challenging autoimmune condition affecting the central nervous system, including the brain and spinal cord. In MS, the immune system mistakenly attacks the protective covering of nerve fibers.
Lupus is an autoimmune disease that occurs when the immune system attacks healthy tissues or organs, including the skin, brain, heart, joints, lungs, and blood cells.
Typical osteoarthritis is caused by normal wear and tear to the bones and joints. In contrast, rheumatoid arthritis occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks the lining of the joints, causing redness, pain, stiffness, and swelling.
Hashimoto’s thyroiditis is an autoimmune disorder that causes the body’s immune system to attack the thyroid gland. The result is hypothyroidism, a condition where there isn’t enough thyroid hormone circulating in the body.
In Grave’s disease, the body also attacks the thyroid. However, unlike Hashimoto’s, Grave’s Disease causes the gland to release excess hormones, leading to hyperthyroidism.
There is a path forward, and it begins here.
At Ann Arbor Holistic Health, we use a customized, compassionate approach to help you understand how your body can regulate itself and find balance. Learn how to take control of your immune system with changes to nutrition, lifestyle, and more.
Understand Root Causes
Results from state-of-the-art functional labs offer deeper insight into your health and all of the hundreds of factors that impact your immune system.
Unravel Dysfunction
Your practitioner will help you implement a customized, comprehensive wellness plan to nix underlying stressors and nourish areas that need support.
Personalized Partnership
Illness can be isolating, especially when you feel as if your own body is sabotaging your health. Our experts have been in your shoes and have the tools to help you.
A Story of Crohn's Disease
Jessica came to Ann Arbor Holistic Health in her early 20s, suffering from severe diarrhea, hemorrhoids, and unintentional weight loss. She had just been diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease, an autoimmune disease where the body attacks its own digestive tract.
Despite extensive testing and following her doctor’s advice, Jessica was miserable. In addition to her initial symptoms, she was experiencing bloating, anxiety, seasonal allergies, acne, headaches, and irregular menstrual cycles. She was scared by how thin she was becoming, and she knew she needed more support.
Jessica started with comprehensive functional labs that looked at her gut and hormone function, followed by a custom wellness plan that included diet tweaks and supportive supplements. Within the first month of working with her AAHH practitioner, Jessica’s diarrhea stopped and she was already gaining weight. Three months later, she was “feeling a lot better.” Her energy returned, she was sleeping well and waking rested, and she continued to have normal bowel movements.
We want to help you live your best life.
That means offering insight about how you can remove the elements that are harming you and replace them with healthier options, setting the stage for your body to repair itself. Contact us today to schedule your free consultation with a holistic wellness expert. Choose an online appointment or come in person to our office in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
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