From The Olive Press
What happens when the body’s defence system turns against its own components?
(This article appeared in Star Health on January 17, 2010)
SUFFERERS of lupus, eczema, psoriasis, allergy dermatitis, psoriatic arthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have different, yet related, conditions. This article will explain how diseases that are so different share a common thread.
In order to do this, you need to understand the origin of these diseases.
Each is a chronic disease that manifests as inflammation of a particular organ. Treatment of these diseases is typically focused on relieving the symptoms of the affected organs, e.g. skin and joints.
It may surprise some of you to learn that the symptoms of skin rash, skin plaques, skin lesion, inflamed joints, and frozen shoulders are actually related and have something in common.
Psoriasis is thought to be an autoimmune disorder.Each of the diseases listed occurs as a result of hypersensitivity of the human immune system to external substances (allergies, dermatitis, and eczema) or reaction to normal body tissues (psoriasis, lupus, and RA).
What is the immune system?
The immune system is the body’s means of protecting itself against microorganisms and other “foreign” substances. One component, B lymphocytes, produces antibodies that attack “foreign” substances and remove them from the body.
Another component consists of special white blood cells called T lymphocytes, which can attack “foreign” substances directly.
Over a person’s lifetime, his immune system develops an extensive library of identified substances and microorganisms that are catalogued as “threat” or “non-threat.”
Normally, the immune system will only attack those tissues that it recognises as a “threat.” However this natural programming of what is a threat and what is not sometimes breaks down. In allergies or eczema, the immune system reacts to an external substance that it normally would ignore.
In the case of psoriasis, lupus, and RA, the immune system reacts negatively to substances within the body. Again, the immune system is unable to differentiate between healthy body tissues and antigens, resulting in inflammatory reactions in critical organs such as skin and joints. When the body attacks itself, this is classified as an autoimmune disorder.
An autoimmune disorder may result in:
● The destruction of one or more types of body tissue (eg arthritic joints are destroyed)
● Abnormal growth of an organ (eg psoriasis skin plaques)
● Changes in organ function (eg lupus causing lung and heart disorders)
This happens when something confuses the immune system. Increasingly, that “something” appears to be the enormous load of environmental toxins to which we are all exposed. Environmental toxins are chemicals and other materials created largely from industry. These chemicals have saturated our water, food, and the very air we breathe. You can’t see, feel, or smell many toxins – at least, not right away.
Treating immune system disorders
Environmental toxins are a major cause of immune disorders. Yet conventional medicine doesn’t take that into account when treating them.
Instead, it tries to shut down the immune response with powerful medications including non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, steroids, anti-cancer drugs like methotrexate, and new drugs that block the effects of a powerful inflammatory molecule called TNF-alpha.
These drugs may be lifesaving for some in the short run, but in the long run they do little to deal with the root causes of these disorders.
In The Autoimmune Epidemic, Donna Jackson Nakazawa provides clear solutions such as changes in diet, supplements, and the environment that can help people deal with immune system disorders.
Dr Mark Hyman, a practising physician, is an internationally recognised authority in the field of functional medicine – an approach to medicine that provides a new road map for navigating the territory of health and illness.
Dr Hyman is also the author the New York Times best-sellers The UltraMind Solution, The UltraSimple Diet, and UltraMetabolism, in which he provides insights on how you can integrate functional medicine into your life and achieve a state of wellness.
In his books, Dr. Hyman outlines several tips for addressing immune system-induced diseases:
● Understand that the underlying cause of joint pain and skin plaques is your immune system.
● Get tested for mercury and other heavy metals.
● Get tested for coeliac disease (an autoimmune reaction to wheat and other gluten-containing grains), which causes over 60 autoimmune diseases.
And consider eliminating other inflammatory foods from your diet such as dairy, eggs, corn, and animal fats for a few weeks to see if it makes a difference.
● Take immune-balancing nutrients and supplements.
● Practise deep relaxation therapy daily through yoga, meditation, biofeedback, or anything that reverses the stress response.
● Practise the precautionary principle that states that we should avoid anything with the potential for harm.
By addressing the root causes of autoimmune disease, you can start feeling better and getting well today.
Benefits of immune-balancing nutrients
Many sufferers of immune disorder conditions such as psoriasis, arthritis, eczema, and dermatitis in Malaysia have discovered the benefits of hydroxytyrosol (HT), a natural polyphenol molecule that is only found in olives.
HT has exhibited clinically proven efficacy in rebalancing immune system responses to inflammation of the joints and skin.
As a nutrient and supplement, HT inhibits pro-inflammatory cytokines, possesses the highest antioxidant activities, and is an excellent scavenger of free radicals that are generated as a result of oxidative stress.
It can be used for psoriasis, RA, eczema, dermatitis, and allergy, diseases that have a common root in the immune system. Since olives have immune-balancing capabilities as recorded by scriptures of old, the positive results reported by those who use HT are not unexpected.
To learn more about hydroxytyrosol (HT) and its immune-balancing capabilities, visit http://www.olivenol-livin.com.my.
Click on the links below to learn more about:
- Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Psoriasis
- Eczema
- Positive Effects of HT on Joints
- Positive Effects of HT on Skin
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Tags: Agony of Arthritis, arthritis, auto immune, autoimmune, cytokines, eczema, heartbreak of psoriasis, HT, hydroxytyrosol, immune system, inflammation, joints, lupus, psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, RA, rheumatoid, sle
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