Category:Allergies, autoimmunity and infections

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Allergies, autoimmunity, inflammation and infection all have to do with the immune system. The immune system has a difficult job to do. It has to recognise those things which are safe for the body and allow them to enter the body, where they help us survive. This, of course, is what digestion and absorption of foods is all about. Indeed, 90% of the immune system is gut associated. It also has to decide what is dangerous to the body, such as infection with bacteria, viruses, yeasts, or parasites and what is safe such as food. Having established that there is a threat, it then has to determine the level of reaction against it, i.e. just the right amount of inflammation to control that threat because too much will simply damage the body.

So all the immune reactions that we see in infection we also see in allergy, autoimmunity and conditions associated with inflammation.

We now know that most autoimmunity is driven by infection with microbes - most commonly viruses, but bacteria, yeast, parasites and vaccinations are also implicated. Not everyone develops autoimmunity - there may be a genetic susceptibility. Furthermore where there are pro-inflammatory forces the chances of developing autoimmunty are greater. The same principles are likely to be true for allergy.

Problems with allergy arise when the immune system has got its wires crossed and starts to react against things which it should not. When it reacts, it produces inflammation and it is this that gives us symptoms. Autoimmunity is all about allergy to our own body material, it is a completely useless reaction and, of course, destructive.

One can be allergic to anything under the sun (including the sun!), for example to foods, biological inhalants, chemicals, micro-organisms (bacteria, yeasts, parasites, etc) and other things.

In treating allergies and autoimmunity the lines of attack are:

  1. Avoidance (see The Paleo Ketogenic Diet - this is a diet which we all should follow, chemical clean up, Do A Good Chemical Clean-Up: chemicals make you fat and fatigued! and Housedust and Mites – how to avoid them).
  2. Treat the upper fermenting gut - see Fermentation in the gut and CFS
  3. Reducing the allergic load (for example by improving digestion of foods – see Hypochlorhydria and Malabsorption of food).
  4. Immune programming (see Probiotics - we should all be taking these all the time and double the dose following antibiotics and gastroenteritis and Reprogramming the Immune System – where conventional and complementary medicine can come together)
  5. Damping down inflammation - vitamin D, nutritional supplements, good antioxidant status, probiotics. See Inflammation
  6. Damping down inflammation through correction of adrenal function (use pregnenolone 50mgs daily) and correction of thyroid function. Please see Common Hormonal Problems in CFS - Adrenal and Thyroid - the correct prescribing of thyroid hormones
  7. Desensitisation - see Enzyme Potentiated Desensitisation (EPD).
  8. Avoid switching on allergies: Chemical clean up – chemicals are very good at switching on allergies, especially pesticides. See Chemical Poisoning and Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) - how to reduce your daily exposures
  9. Avoid vaccinations if possible - they are good at switching on allergies for the same reason that they are good at switching on immunity!
  10. Avoid the worst aspects of the Western lifestyles (and we all know what they are!)

Indeed there is now good evidence to show that the presence of auto-antibodies are a strong predictor of disease. Treatment should start before clinical symptoms arise. The presence of anti-mitochondrial antibodies guarantees that primary biliary cirrhosis will begin in the sixth decade.

Health benefits of turmeric - Lyfe Botanicals article.

I have received an email from Lyfe Botanicals concerning curcumin and its beneficial effects regarding allergies. Curcumin is the main active ingredient in turmeric.
Studies show that curcumin has an antihistamine like effect and can target respiratory inflammation, with the possibility of reducing the frequency and severity of allergic
reactions and asthma attacks. The article as linked below lists 10 health benefits of curcumin, with links to studies:

Lyfe Botanicals Article on 10 Health Benefits of Curcumin

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Pages in category ‘Allergies, autoimmunity and infections’

The following 44 pages are in this category, out of 44 total.