As promised, this is part two of what causes autoimmune diseases! Seemingly out of nowhere, autoimmune diseases have risen to a degree that cannot be ignored. Given this rise, it’s extremely important to understand what triggers them. The cause of autoimmune disorders can seem mysterious, but there are some very common causes for them. In my first video on this subject, I addressed the fact that toxins can trigger autoimmune diseases. These toxins are found everywhere from mercury fillings to cosmetics to the food we eat! In addition to these nasty but common toxins, infection can cause autoimmune diseases, and that is what I will be covering in this video.
Collectively, autoimmune diseases are some of the most common diseases in America. In fact, more than 23.5 million Americans suffer from autoimmune diseases today.
Autoimmune diseases occur when, rather than protecting the body from pathogens, the immune system attacks the body’s cells, tissue and even organs. These attacks can, on occasion, turn tragically fatal.
There are about 80 known diseases that result from this destructive bodily behavior. Extremely common examples include type one diabetes, celiac disease, and multiple sclerosis.
Three main categories of infection trigger these terrible conditions. Although the infections all have the ability to trigger autoimmune diseases, this ability depends largely on a person’s genes. This means that a person could have one of these infections, but not an autoimmune disease.
The tiny, cell-wall-less pathogens, called mycoplasma are the first of the three infections that cause autoimmune diseases. Although they are hard to test for, it is possible.
The next infection that causes autoimmune diseases is bacterial. Several different kinds of bacteria can trigger autoimmune diseases, including Klebsiella, and the bacteria that cause Lyme disease and Staphylococcus. Often these bacteria hide in the gut, which is why I always test the gut of patients with autoimmune disorders.
The last infection I’m going to talk about is virus-induced. Viruses like epstein barr and cytomegalovirus all can be causes of autoimmune diseases. These infections can be detected with blood testing. These infections initially can make a person very sick. For example epstein barr virus can cause Mono. Sometimes these viruses become chronic infections persisting for years. It’s these chronic viral infections that are often the triggers for autoimmune disease.
Once again testing is the key here. Once the root infections are identified treatment is straight forward. Often I find that patients with autoimmune diseases have multiple triggers. For example a person with some sort of toxin has a weak immune system and is then vulnerable to infections.
Getting patients with autoimmune diseases well takes understanding what all the underlying problems are.
As always I welcome your comments and questions.
