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Jamieson
Health Center Newsletter
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December 7, 2010 |
Volume 2, Number 10 |
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Dear patients, dear friends, In this month’s newsletter,
I would like to shed some light on autoimmune diseases: what they are, what can
cause them, how you can avoid them and the clinical options you have when you
are diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder. Autoimmune diseases are on a precipitous rise in industrialized
countries, sending researchers scrambling for explanations and cures.
According to the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association Inc.,
approximately 50 million Americans, 20% of the population or one in five
people, suffer from autoimmune diseases. Women are more likely than men to
suffer from these disorders. Some experts estimate that 75 percent - some 30
million people affected - are women. When you have an autoimmune
disease, your immune system mistakenly attacks your own body. Thyroid
autoimmune diseases are the most common autoimmune disorders, mostly due to Hashimoto’s
disease. But it’s possible to develop an autoimmune reaction to anything in
your body, including your organs, joints, brain, hormones, nerves, muscles,
etc. The development of an
autoimmune disease is influenced by the genes you inherit together with the
way your immune system responds to certain triggers and/or environmental
influences. Once a gene is turned on, it can’t be turned off. Although it is
important to know whether you have such a gene, it is even more important to
know what you can do to avoid having this gene switched on. In this
newsletter I give you insights on how to avoid such disease. In general, it
is extremely important to maintain integrity of the mucosal membranes of the
barriers that protect us from foreign invaders: gut, lungs and brain. A leaky
gut is detrimental for autoimmune diseases since it allows foreign substances
in the blood stream. Therefore a healthy diet is key.
If you have been diagnosed
with an autoimmune disease, the conventional way to treat it is to take
Prednisone to suppress the immune system in combination with hormone
replacement therapy once the attacked organ loses its functionality. Their focus
is on the gland rather than on how the immune system behaves. Amazing progress has recently
been made in understanding how to modulate autoimmune diseases from a
nutritional perspective. Focus is on restoring and balancing the immune
system to avoid or turn down the volume on autoimmune flare ups and restore
the intestinal membranes. A healthy glutathione recycling system and the
modulation of nitric oxide, in addition to Vitamin-D, have a big impact on
restoring the balance of the immune system, and also on optimizing intestinal
membrane integrity. A restricted diet
along with the right nutritional supplements and probiotics
can help you restore and maintain a healthy gut. For more information about
autoimmune diseases and how we can help you, give us a call and receive a
free consultation. Yours in good health, Dr. Samuel Jamieson, D.C. |
Autoimmune Diseases on the Rise. What are autoimmune
diseases? ·
Multiple Sclerosis attacks your brain ·
Crohn's disease attacks your gut ·
Rheumatoid Arthritis attacks your joints and
sometimes other organs ·
Celiac disease attacks your small
intestines ·
Systemic lupus affects different tissues and organs and this varies
among individuals with the same disease. It may affect skin and joints in one
person and skin, kidney, and lungs in another. ·
Type 1
diabetes attacks the pancreas ·
Hashimoto’s
disease attacks the thyroid ·
Psoriasis attacks the
skin Ultimately,
damage to certain tissues by the immune system may be permanent, as with
destruction of insulin-producing cells of the pancreas in Type 1 diabetes. What causes an
autoimmune disease? The
development of an autoimmune disease may be influenced by the genes you
inherit together with the way your immune system responds to certain triggers
and/or environmental influences. It is not always possible to pinpoint what exactly
triggers your genes to turn on an autoimmune disease. However numerous
triggers and factors exist that can be avoided. Read my next paragraph on how
to avoid an autoimmune disease. The weakening of the immune barriers, such as
the lining of the digestive and respiratory tract, and the blood-brain
barrier play a big role. As health weakens due to poor diet, unstable blood
sugar, gut infections, chronic stress, and adrenal malfunction, these
barriers weaken and become porous. The result is leaky gut, leaky lungs and
leaky brain. Over time the immune system is working around the clock to
battle invaders penetrating barriers from every direction. An army pushed too
far for too long is at risk for mutiny, attacking the very thing it is
designed to protect, your body. Proper
care is based not on the tissue being attacked, but on how the immune system
is behaving. Unfortunately, conventional health care has no model to
successfully manage autoimmune disorders. Typically, the immune suppressant
Prednisone is a standard treatment. The immune system is being shut down
making the patient vulnerable for all kinds of infections. For some
autoimmune diseases, Prednisone is too aggressive. In this case, doctors
“wait” for the organ to “burn out”, meaning to lose function due to extensive
tissue death. Then they will prescribe hormone replacement therapy of the
hormone the gland can’t produce anymore, like thyroid hormone replacement
therapy for Hashimoto’s, or insulin for diabetes. Focus is only on the gland when in truth, the immune system is
the one running the show, and that’s where we need to turn the spotlight. How can an autoimmune disease be helped? Once the gene for an
autoimmune disease has been turned on, it can’t be turned off. However, there
are several things that can be done clinically to modulate the disease. The main
focus is on restoring balance of the immune system, to avoid and turn down
the volume of flare ups and help with rapid recovery when they do happen. It is very important to
maintain healthy levels of glutathione in your cells by ensuring that your glutathione
recycling system is working properly. Numerous clinical tests have shown that
the immune system is only activated after the glutathione levels are
depleted. This is absolutely critical for patients with autoimmune disorders.
Glutathione also helps to balance your immune system and restore intestinal
health. Another important mechanism
to regulate autoimmunity is the modulation of nitric oxide. Depending on
which isomer is expressed, it can be either protective or destructive.
Certain nitric oxide isomers can optimize neuronal synapses and increase plasticity
in your brain. They can also help regenerate blood vessel tissue and enhance
blood flow. However other isomers can promote the destruction of tissue in
your gut, and increase inflammation and autoimmune attacks. Therefore, do not
simply use products to raise nitric oxide levels, because they can increase
autoimmune attacks. Rather, get professional advice on how to modulate your nitric
oxide system. As described in the next
paragraphs, maintaining high levels of vitamin D also keeps your immune
system balanced while a restricted diet in combination with nutritional
supplements and probiotics, helps restore and maintain a healthy gut, along with curtailing
leaky gut and bacterial and yeast overgrowth. For more
information about autoimmune disorders, call our office at 408-517-0706 or visit our website at www.jamiesonhealthcenter.com.
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Modulating the immune system for autoimmunity. Four clinical steps are
needed to restore the balance of the immune system. First we need to discover
which side of your immune system is more active, the one that deploys natural
killer cells and cytotoxic T-cells (causing TH-1
dominance) or the side that deploys B-cell antibodies (causing TH-2
dominance). If you are dominant in one or the other, your immune system is
out of balance and autoimmune disease is either highly likely or already
underway. Blood tests measuring various cytokines can determine TH-1 or TH-2
dominance. Hashimoto’s, Type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis and chronic viral
infections are often associated with TH-1 dominance. Lupus, dermatitis,
asthma and multiple chemical sensitivities are often associated with TH-2
dominance. Second, we need to increase
TH-3 activity. The TH-3 system is the regulatory part of the immune system.
It balances out the TH1 and TH2 systems and regulates over-zealousness. Third, we need to dampen
TH-17 activity. The TH-17 system contains the T-helper cells that ultimately
destroy the cells tagged by the TH-2 system. The stronger the TH-17 system,
the more destruction is done. And fourth, we need to restore and optimize
mucosal membrane integrity especially of the intestines. Restricted
dietary program to restore your intestinal membranes. Nutritional
supplements, probiotics and a restricted diet can
help break the vicious cycle of a leaky gut and support intestinal health. The
dietary restrictions are not caloric, so you are allowed to eat whenever you
are hungry. However, you must only eat from the list of allowed foods. Foods to avoid: ·
Sugars ·
High-glycemic fruits ·
Grains ·
Gluten-containing compounds ·
Dairy ·
Soy ·
Alcohol ·
Lectins (found in nuts,
beans, eggplant, etc.) ·
Coffee ·
Processed foods ·
Canned foods Foods to eat: ·
Most vegetables except tomatoes, potatoes and mushrooms ·
Fermented foods ·
Meats ·
Low glycemic fruits ·
Coconut ·
Herbal teas ·
Olives and olive oil Ask
us for a complete list of foods you can eat to maintain a healthy gut and a
healthy body. |
Avoiding autoimmune disorders. Certain genes predispose
people to autoimmune disorders. However genes don’t cause you to have a disease.
Rather what you expose your body to can cause a disease. In other words, what
you eat, what you breathe, the amount of stress and your lifestyle define
whether genes will be turned on to express a disease or stay off. Here are some guidelines how
to avoid autoimmune diseases: 1. Reduce your
stress. Stress
does many things to upset immune regulation. It suppresses immune function,
promotes immune imbalances, weakens and atrophies the thymus gland, and thins
the barriers of the gut, lungs and brain. 2. Avoid
gluten. One
of the main functions of the immune system is to protect the body from foreign
invaders. Sometimes it begins to recognize a frequently eaten food as a
dangerous invader. Gluten, found in wheat and wheat-like grains, causes an
immune reaction in many people. ·
Because the
molecular structure of gluten so closely resembles that of the thyroid gland,
your immune system also starts attacking your thyroid tissue. Every time
undigested gluten slips into the bloodstream, your immune system responds by
destroying it for removal but also attacks the tissue of your thyroid. ·
Gluten itself can
weaken the intestinal tract,
increasing permeability, and allowing more undigested proteins in the blood
stream. In this case, you are at risk for developing either gluten
intolerance or celiac disease. ·
Celiac disease
is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks the lining of
your small intestine. ·
Gluten
intolerance causes inflammation in the gut,
but can also affect your joints, skin,
respiratory tract and/or brain. It
is important to know if you have a genetic predisposition for gluten
intolerance, as so many Americans do. According to the research by Kenneth
Fine, M.D., up to 81% of Americans are predisposed to gluten intolerance, and
43% to celiac disease. 3. Avoid sugar
and high carbohydrate diets. Sugar
and diets high in carbohydrates can cause insulin resistance, a condition in
which the body’s cells become resistant to insulin (the cause of type II
diabetes). Insulin resistance promotes inflammation and immune system problems,
both of which increase your risk of autoimmune diseases. 4. Get enough
Vitamin D. Adequate
vitamin D helps keep your immune system balanced so it does not swing out of
control into an autoimmune disease. Modern diets are often lacking in vitamin
D-rich foods like liver, organ meats, many forms of
seafood, butter and egg yolks. Sunlight is another form of vitamin D, but
many people avoid the sun. 5. Don’t
neglect chronic inflammation, infections and viruses. Rare
is the American with a well functioning digestive tract. Just consider the
billions of dollars spent on over-the-counter antacids, laxatives and
diarrhea medications. Intestinal permeability, poor digestions, bacterial and
parasitic infections are common digestive ailments that can lead to
autoimmune disease. Other immune stressors include chronic viruses and
infections such as hepatitis C, Epstein-Barr virus, Lyme disease and mold
infections. 6. Avoid
environmental toxins. Eat
organic foods and use organic and green cosmetics and cleaning products. We
all have, to some degree, a heavy metal and environmental pollution toxicity.
Your immune system can attack those compounds and this could be a factor in
developing autoimmune diseases. For more information about
autoimmune disorders and any of the treatments mentioned, call our office at 408-517-0706 or visit our website at www.jamiesonhealthcenter.com. |
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JAMIESON
HEALTH CENTER
Applied Kinesiology Nutrition Emotional Stress Relief Total Body Modification Advanced Neurofeedback 1175
Saratoga Ave, Ste 8 San Jose, CA
95119 Phone
408.517.0706 Email drjamieson@sbcglobal.net We’re on the Web! |
Seminars we’ve taken. Since I want to make a difference in
your lives and that of your children, I’m constantly trying to keep up with
the latest developments in healing practices and new discoveries in the area
of alternative holistic medicine. To that end, I have attended the following
seminars and conferences over the last several months: ·
NeuroIntegration therapy– Level
1 and Level 2 training ·
Autoimmune
regulation ·
International College
of Applied Kinesiology Annual Meeting 2010 ·
Functional Endocrinology ·
Doctor of the
Future – The Practice of Rational Intervention ·
NeuroEndocrine-Immune Axis
of Andropause ·
Metabolic
Biotransformation: an overview of detoxification and weight management ·
Restoring
Gastrointestinal Health ·
Practical Blood
Chemistry ·
Functional
Neurology for the Primary Care Provider ·
Neurotransmitters
and Brain ·
Applied Brain
Concepts ·
The
Thyroid-Brain–Immuno Connection ·
Restorative
Endocrinology: Balancing Female Hormones in Menopausal Women ·
Restorative
Endocrinology: Balancing Hormones in Cycling Women ·
The Impacts of
Estrogen on the NeuroEndocrine-Immune Axis ·
Restorative
Endocrinology: Balancing Male Hormones ·
Advanced
Nutrition Therapeutics for Addictions and OCD Some
patients have asked about previous newsletters and they can be found on our
website at http://www.jamiesonhealthcenter.com/archive.htm |
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