Autoimmune Disorders



An autoimmune disorder is a condition that occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys healthy body tissue. There are more than 80 different types of autoimmune disorders.

Causes
What causes the immune system to no longer distinguish between healthy body tissues and antigens is unknown. One theory holds that various microorganisms and drugs may trigger some of these changes, particularly in persons who are genetically prone to autoimmune disorders.

The onset of autoimmune disorders occurs most often in middle-aged women - the time of life when estrogen dominance becomes common.

Recent studies have shown that women who use HRT containing estrogen (estradiol) are more likely to get lupus. Birth control pills may also contribute to autoimmune diseases by causing the body to form antibodies to its own hormones.

Lupus erytherometosis:

  • Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic, inflammatory autoimmune disorder. It may affect the skin, joints, kidneys, and other organs. The underlying cause of autoimmune diseases is not fully known. Some researchers think autoimmune diseases occur after infection with an organism that looks like certain proteins in the body. The proteins are later mistaken for the organism and wrongly targeted for attack by the body's immune system. SLE affects nine times as many women as men. It may occur at any age, but appears most often in people between the ages of 10 and 50 years. African Americans and Asians are affected more often than people from other races.


    • Thyroiditis:

  • Thyroiditis is a general term that refers to “inflammation of the thyroid gland”. Thyroiditis includes a group of individual disorders that all cause thyroidal inflammation. There are several types of thyroiditis: Hashimoto’s thyroidits, Subacute thyroiditis, (de Quervain’s thyroiditis), Silent thyroiditis, Painless thyroiditis, Post partum thyroiditis, Drug induced, Radiation induced, Acute thyroiditis, and Suppurative thyroiditis.


    • Treatment

    The goals of treatment are to reduce symptoms and control the autoimmune process while maintaining the body's ability to fight disease. Treatments vary widely and depend on the specific disease and your symptoms.

    1) Progesterone

    It’s well known that autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis (MS) often go into remission during pregnancy (when our body manufactures high levels of progesterone and estriol), only to return in force after child-birth. Adding bio-identical progesterone cream to the treatment plan often provides similar relief of symptoms.

    Progesterone promotes the formation of the myelin sheath, the fatty substance that surrounds and protects nerve fibers. The myelin sheath is to nerves what plastic insulation is to electrical wires. In multiple sclerosis, a disease of the central nervous sytem, the loss of myelin results in a breakdown of the nerve signaling system throughout the body.

    Progesterone is the main precursor to corticosteroids and in progesterone-deficient women, restoration of normal progesterone levels may enhance corticosteroid production, thus suppressing the autoimmune attack

    2) Supplements

    Supplements are frequently necessary to replenish vitamins the body is lacking.

    3) Blood transfusions

    These may be needed if the autoimmune disorder affects the blood.

    4) Physical Therapy

    Measures to help with movement or other functions may be needed for autoimmune disorders that affect the bones, joints, or muscles.

    5) Medicines

    Corticosteroids and immunosuppressant drugs such as cyclophosphamide or azathioprine are often prescribed to control or reduce the immune system's response.

    Bottom Line: If you’re suffering from an autoimmune disease, you don’t have to wait for all the academic research answers to come in. Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy BHRT at physiological doses is safe, and it’s an option you and your physician should consider exploring now.

    Cited:
    Natural-Progesterone-Advisory-Network.com

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