The immune system’s job is to protect us from foreign invaders like bacteria, viruses, and parasites. Sometimes, that system gets its signals crossed and we see autoimmune disease--that’s when our immune system perceives our own body as foreign and begins to attack our own cells and organs. Antibodies are made against a specific body tissue and tag this tissue to be destroyed by other parts of the immune system. This immune system dysregulation can manifest as at least 80 different known autoimmune diseases, each one characterized by the specific body tissue that is being attacked. For example, antibodies to the thyroid can result in either Hashimoto’s disease or Grave’s disease; or antibodies to islet cells in the pancreas can result in type I diabetes. As in many diseases, genetics may load the gun, but the environment pulls the trigger. As a functional medicine doctor, I want to find out what some of these immune triggers are and work to correct them.
About 1 in 12 women and 1 in 24 men suffer from autoimmune disease and the prevalence is rising. Many people have autoimmune disease but are not diagnosed since symptoms can overlap with a variety of diseases. And many people have a diagnosis but do not know that it is an autoimmune disease—like psoriasis, inflammatory bowel disease and certain types of arthritis. Every person with an autoimmune disease will have a personalized combination of immune dysfunction patterns and immune triggers, even two people with the same diagnosis. That’s what makes it so crucial to search for each individual’s triggers and address them specifically.
Lifestyle factors like sleep, stress, and exercise all have a significant impact on autoimmunity. Poor sleep can increase inflammation. Stress can increase inflammatory cytokines and cortisol which also add to immune dysfunction. Exercise can be a Goldilocks situation with autoimmunity—not moving can exacerbate autoimmunity, as can overdoing it. There is a sweet spot that increases blood flow and opioids, which helps balance out the immune response.
Dietary influence on autoimmunity is huge. Food proteins can act as antigens and be immune triggers. For example, if a person is sensitized to gluten they will start to make antibodies to gluten. Parts of the thyroid have similar protein sequences that resemble gluten and these antibodies will mistake the thyroid for gluten and attack it, leading to autoimmune thyroid disease. The more gluten eaten, the more the thyroid can be destroyed. This is called cross reactivity and is a frequent mechanism in autoimmunity. Common food triggers include gluten, dairy, grains, lectins, nightshades, and salt.
Chemicals are another trigger for autoimmunity—often binding to proteins in the body and changing their structure so they are no longer recognized as self tissue and are then a target for attack by the immune system. Supporting detoxification in these situations can be helpful.
Pathogens are another big trigger. These can range from bacteria to viruses to parasites to molds and yeasts. Screening for specific pathogens and supporting the immune system is important. Current research shows that SARS CoV-2 may be a major player in triggering autoimmunity. One researcher referred to this virus as “the queen of autoimmunity” with potential cross reactivity between our human tissue and this virus. It is also theorized that autoimmunity caused by SARS CoV-2 may be behind the suffering of the “long haulers”.
Autoimmunity is a complex disease. If you aren’t feeling well, have been to multiple doctors but nothing has truly helped, various treatments may have helped at certain times, consider looking into an underlying autoimmune condition. Although we can’t erase autoimmunity once it has been turned on since the body has memory T cells that never forget, we can work on the triggers for autoimmunity and make a person feel better by helping them into remission and preventing flare-ups.