AUTOIMMUNE DISORDER- INNOVATIVE APPROACHES
Autoimmunity is turning out to be a leading cause of various chronic inflammatory conditions. A steep rise in the incidence of autoimmune diseases over a decade cannot be explained on the basis of genetic changes only. There are definitely certain other factors involved that are impacting our immune system. Some of these may be – environmental pollution, GMO crops, dairy products, pesticides in our food, heavy metals, chronic latent infections, and gut dysbiosis.
There are multifarious conditions that may have autoimmunity as their root cause for example- Cardiac vascular diseases, IBD, IBS, thyroid disorders, joint and muscle disorders, neurological disorders, skin disorders, and Cancer.
The question is how environmental factors account for autoimmune disorders.
-Flow chart of how environmental factors accounts for Autoimmune disorders
Conventional medicine treats autoimmunity with a conservative approach; they either treat the symptoms or start replacement therapy. Secondly, they use immune-modulating therapies to suppress the system.
In functional medicine, we treat the body as a whole. To identify the root cause detailed investigations are done. This includes a detailed history of the patient, comprehensive stool testing, food intolerance testing, heavy metal, and mineral testing, gene testing, blood tests to detect Lyme, candida antibodies, and EBV antigen; tests to detect H.pylori are also conducted. After the complete testing, once the root cause is identified, the treatment is started with the 5R approach.
1. Remove : All the potential triggers that lead to inflammation are eliminated. They may be gluten, dairy, sugar products & latent infections. Bio-film bursting enemas are a great method to remove the above from the body.
2. Replace : Once the body is free of the inflammatory triggers. It is replaced with probiotics to restore the gut biome. An anti-inflammatory diet is started and polyphenols are added (berries, green dark leafy vegetables). Additionally, anti-inflammatory nutrients and enzymes are also prescribed.
3. Reinoculate : In this step, the gut flora is rebuilt & re-grown. Trace minerals and essential fatty acids are introduced, along with a gut-healing diet. Alkaline water is advised to take. Anti-inflammatory cooking fats like coconut oil are advised to be used for cooking.
4. Repair : In this phase, probiotic enemas are given to repair the damaged gut lining. IV nutrient therapy is advised along with nutraceuticals to heal & repair the gut lining. Also bone broth, collagen & l-glutamine powder is prescribed. Peptide therapy is started to repair the gut lining. Two main peptides (i) BPC 157 & (ii) Thymosin are advised.
5. Rebalance: It is important to have a balanced life, maintaining a healthy lifestyle is a must. One must practice breathing exercises, and some kind of meditation to relieve any acute stress, maintaining a regular circadian rhythm is also significant.