What are Auotimmune Diseases and How Can They Be Treated Naurally

Despite all the scientific research that is being done on diseases these days we know little about how to treat autoimmune conditions. I have seen many patients over the years with Sjogren's, Rheumatoid arthritis, Mixed connective tissue disease and a host of other conditions. Some times my work has been of benefit to them and other times it has not. This is what I have gleaned from my experience.

• the problem lies in my estimation with the protein complexs that that communicate to the body's white blood cells that something is friend or foe. The white blood cells are not reading that signal properly.
• The Immune system of the body is not being properly modulated. Something happened that caused the white blood cells of the immune system to react improperly to tissues of the body.
• The white blood cells of the body may not be functioning properly and to compensate for this the body may be up regulating other chemical immunity called humeral immunity which is more inflammatory in nature.

So what can someone do to help themselves when they have autoimmune problems?

1. They can clean up their diet. Everyone thinks they eat healthy, but they usually have some aggravating foods in their diet. Soy, peanuts,chocolate, dairy, citrus, corn and eggs to name a few. Yes there are foods you can eat with out the 7 previously mentionned. If you are scoffing at eliminating these foods from your diet maybe you are part of your problem. Autoimmune diseases are analogus to a loss of one's identity. If you cannot make changes to your diet because your brain tells you this is hogwash then you are merely your thoughts and the rest of the body is not worth consideration, only the brain. That sounds like a loss of identity to me. The truth is one probably does not have to give up all these foods if they go on an elimination diet. An elimination diet starts with a few foods and adds foods until some reaction is noticed. Then the offending foods are avoided. It's tedious, but worth it once one realizes all the time spent pursuing a pharmaceutical remedy plus the potential adverse side-effects of the current pharmaceutical remedies offered.
   
2. Immune modulation is achievable through over-the-counter supplementation. One should avoid beta-glucan products because they stimulate humeral immunity. I would suggest the newr alpha-glucan products such as Immpower by American BioSciences. It can modulate the Nk cells in the body and positively affect the interleuking balance in the body. Interleukins are modulators of inflammation in the body. Some like IL-2 decrease inflammation in the body and even have been shown to be beneficial with regards to cancer while IL-6 has the opposite effect. 
3. Maintain gastrointestinal integrity. The GI system is where the body deals with foreign objects being intrdoced to it. If the GI system in not functioning properly in one of it's myriad processes then this can result in a comprimised intestinal integrity. This then allows large undigested proteins to enter the blood stream through the intestines and this can cause allergies of autoimmune conditions. Again this is my opinion as a medically trained clinician. Increasing intestinal function and integrity is key to long term improvment in the autoimmune patient. One can use probiotics, enzymes, Chinese herbs or carminatives in addition to dietary modification.
4. Patience and personal conviction are a must. These are key processes towards restoring one's sense of personal identity as well as giving these longer acting therapies time to work.
5. Learning to get out of the panic mode through meditative or spiritual work can have an effect on stress levels and the immune system as well. There has been a lot of research in this field. Stop trying to control this bothersome aspect of your health and instead take the time out to see what your body is trying to tell you it needs.

Sorry for the brvity of this post but I could write all day about this subject and I must go back to work.