An autoimmune disease is due to malfunction or breakdown of the immune system. There are more than one hundred immune system disorders. Modern medicine can’t describe or specifically identify the causes of autoimmune diseases. Despite the progress of modern science and technologies, disappointment and frustration are a part of modern medicine in the region of autoimmunity.
Autoimmune disorders
Autoimmune disorders are becoming more rampant. By and large, women are more vulnerable to them than men are. Men have a higher prevalence of mellitus diabetes and myocarditis than girls; besides those, girls are 3 to 6 times more susceptible to autoimmune disorders than men. Are you in danger? It’s important to know how and why you might have an autoimmune disorder. First of all, you need to have an understanding of your immune system in layman’s term.
Your immune system consists of four parts, and each part has its own distinctive function. The human immune system is quite complicated — a testament to the creativity and mystery of human development — in that it involves the entire body, not only certain body organs and tissues. Its basic role is to warn the entire body of impending risks of viruses and bacteria (sadly, lots of us just ignore these tale-telling signals, or we simply don’t decode these body messages).
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Moreover, the immune system”remembers” these foreign invaders or antigens (the purpose is to recognize similar offenses in future for superior disease-prevention purpose). Furthermore, the white blood cells from the immune system produce antibodies, which are compounds that attach to and attack particular antigens. These white blood cells additionally send”messages” that cause”inflammation” in response to an accident or antigen, and thus instrumental in preventing a disease from spreading elsewhere.
To put it differently, they get “chemical directions” to nip the illness or disease in the bud. In a nutshell, the immune system functions different purposes of identification, activation, mobilization, and recovery. It’s comparable to a police department in a town: it acknowledges that the city’s potential crime situation, takes strong steps to protect the public, trains the local police force, and modulates the law and order of town.
Autoimmunity
Autoimmunity occurs when the immune system attacks its own cells, mistaking them for foreign invaders. To illustrate, in myasthenia gravis, which is an autoimmune disorder, it’s an autoantibody attack on the receptor responsible for the communication between the nervous system and voluntary muscles, and consequently causing miscommunication which leads to muscle fatigue, a hallmark characteristic of myasthenia gravis. Generally speaking, there are a number of causes of autoimmune diseases.
Environmental agents can trigger the onset or deterioration of an autoimmune disorder. Heavy metal, specifically, mercury, is supposed to play a pivotal role, even though the medical community has little information on why or how it might be the culprit of many immune disorders. According to research, Americans whose work does not have any direct contact with heavy metals might have more than 200 compounds in their bodies.
Research
Based on Dr. Ahmet Hoke of John Hopkins University Medical Center, the quantity of toxic chemicals found in humans is so huge and surprising that it’s beyond the immune system’s capacity to manage. The scenario might be contrasted to a under-staffed police station in a crime-infested city. The immune system normally takes hundreds, or even thousands, of years to adapt to environmental pressures. Therefore, given the very toxic environment we’re living in, the immune system can easily undermine its functions, resulting in errors and mistakes, which are the root causes of autoimmunity.
Another important element in the causes of autoimmune diseases is the genetic element. Unfortunately, there’s not much you can do about your genes inherited from your parents. . Lifestyle and diet may also trigger an attack. For instance, insufficient vitamin D from sunlight could be implicated in the diseasenonetheless, too much ultraviolet out of sunlight might not be beneficial to the immune system.
Nutrition
A diet with a lot of gluten, which is a protein, can lead to inflammation in the small intestine, leading to pain, and thus blocking the absorption of nutrients. If you’re allergic to gluten, it might cause celiac disease, which is an autoimmune disease. The iodine in seafood could be debatable to mice, though it hasn’t been demonstrated to affect humans. Overall, an autoimmune disease could be caused by not only one factor but a combination of many elements.
Given the complexity of the disease, it’s important to have a holistic approach to treating the illness and disease. Using medications alone is an insufficient approach to autoimmune diseases. Furthermore, medications can’t cure the disease: at best, it merely tries to curb a few of the symptoms by compromising the immune system. It’s similar to a police station where there are a few bad men within the police force; without identifying the bad guys, you merely disarm all the policemen in order to stop the bad guys from causing trouble. Like wise, using drugs to suppress an”overactive” immune system will curb a few of the indicators but also at the cost of weakening the immune system. It’s only a grab -22 situation.
