ARE INFECTIONS DRIVING YOUR AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE?
It is estimated that around 1 in 10 people in the UK are living with an autoimmune disease. This means that their immune system is attacking their own tissues. There are over 80 recognised autoimmune diseases where different organs and tissues are under attack. There is also growing evidence that the number of autoimmune disease diagnoses has risen since the advent of Covid. Conventional treatment for autoimmune diseases focuses on suppressing the immune system with medications such as steroids rather than looking for and addressing the underlying causes (which do exist). There is a body of growing science that points to infections as being a strong driver of many different autoimmune diseases. Could targeting those infections and modulating the immune system instead of suppressing it be a promising way forward for the treatment of autoimmune disease? To find out more, please read on …
What is Autoimmune Disease?
An autoimmune disease (also called Autoimmunity) is a condition in which the body’s immune system - that part of your body designed to protect you from harmful invaders like viruses, bacteria, yeasts and moulds - mistakenly attacks healthy cells and tissues instead. Rather than recognising the difference between a genuine threat and the body’s own tissues, the immune system becomes confused and creates ongoing inflammation that can damage different parts of the body.
Some well known and commonly diagnosed autoimmune diseases include: rheumatoid arthritis (RA), celiac disease, multiple sclerosis (MS), lupus, type 1 diabetes, Crohn’s, ulcerative colitis, basal ganglia encephalitis (Pans Pandas) Hashimoto’s and Grave’s thyroid disease. Each affects different organs and tissues, but they all share the common feature of an immune system that has become misdirected.
The immune system’s most important job
The immune system’s most important job is to protect us from invaders (viruses, bacteria, yeasts, toxins etc.). It does this by recognising which cells (proteins) are yours (which it tags as “self”) and which are not (which it tags as “non-self”). Non-self proteins include invaders like viruses, bacteria, yeasts and toxins.
The immune army of cells constantly surveys the body for tiny molecular identification tags called epitopes. These are small sections of proteins found on the surface of cells and microbes. By reading these tags, the immune system has to decide whether something is “self
Why does the immune system attack self?
Scientists no longer believe that autoimmune diseases simply happen by chance, because the moon is at a certain angle or it’s your turn to get some bad luck! In fact, several mechanisms for autoimmunity have been identified and written about extensively in the medical literature:
Molecular mimicry - mistaken identity - Some bacteria and viruses carry proteins that closely resemble proteins found in our own tissues. Like a boxer blinded by sweat who has been fighting for hours in the ring and now lashes out at anything in his vicinity, the immune system may struggle to tell the difference between a pathogen (invading virus or bacteria) and the body’s own cells, leading it to attack both.
Tissue damage exposes “hidden pathogens” - Some infections cause direct damage to tissues, exposing proteins that the immune system has rarely encountered before. The newly exposed proteins can be mistaken for foreign invaders, triggering an autoimmune attack.
Changes to the body’s own proteins - Infections, inflammation, smoking, heavy metal exposures from mercury fillings, and other environmental toxins can chemically alter normal proteins. Once changed, these proteins can appear “foreign” to the immune system, which then begins attacking them. The problem is that the immune system can’t distinguish between your self-tissue and the mercury which it has become contaminated with. In rheumatoid arthritis, some proteins become chemically changed (a process called citrullination), making them targets for the immune system.
An overactive immune response - Some infections, including Covid, can cause an intense immune response. In susceptible people, this powerful response may fail to switch off properly, leaving the immune system in a persistent state of activation.
Bystander activation - During an infection, the immune system activates many immune cells at once. Occasionally, immune cells that would normally remain inactive become caught up in the response and begin attacking healthy tissues. This is known as “bystander activation.”
Epitope spreading - An “epitope” is a small part of a protein that the immune system recognises. This is when the immune system’s attack gradually widens over time. It may start by targeting one specific protein, but as inflammation causes more tissue damage, new proteins are exposed. The immune system then mistakes these for threats as well , causing the attack to spread to more parts of the body and making the autoimmune disease more entrenched. Imagine a protein is like a person’s face. An epitope is one specific facial feature - such as the eyes or the nose - that the immune system uses to recognise who it is. If the immune system mistakes that feature for one belonging to an invading germ, it may attack the body’s own tissues instead.
Gut microbiome disruption - The trillions of bacteria living in the gut help educate and regulate the immune system. Changes to this microbial community - through antibiotics, heavy metals, oral/dental infections, diet, infections or other factors - may reduce immune tolerance and increase the likelihood of autoimmune disease.
Failure of immune regulation - Healthy immune systems contain specialised cells called regulatory T cells that act as “brakes” to prevent attacks on the body’s own tissues. If these regulatory mechanisms are weakened, the immune system can get out of control and drive chronic inflammation.
Infections that trigger autoimmune diseases
What infections does the medical literature link to some of the commonly known autoimmune diseases?
*Multiple Sclerosis (MS) - Viral infections including: Epstein Barr Virus, Varicella Zoster (shingles), Herpes Virus-6, Retroviruses (commonly known as HERVS or Human Endogenous Retroviruses). A Retrovirus is a virus that hides inside your cells and uses them to reproduce. The most commonly known are HIV, followed by Covid. HERVs are ancient viral genes that became part of your DNA millions of years ago and are usually dormant. However, they can be activated by certain things including wifi exposures.
Bacterial infections including: Borrelia (Lyme), Chlamydia pneumonaie, Helicobacter pylori particularly strains with aggressive proteins, Bartonella.
*Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) - Bacterial infections including: Borrelia (Lyme), Chlamydia pneumonaie, Yersinia enterocolitica, H. pylori, Porphyromonas gingivalis (a mouth bacterium).
Viral infections including: Epstein Barr Virus, Cytomegalovirus (CMV), Herpes simplex, Varicella Zoster, Covid-19.
*Hashomoto’s/Grave’s Disease (2 autoimmune conditions of the thyroid) - Bacterial infections: Borrelia (Lyme) particularly the LFA-1 result which stands for Lymphocyte Function-associated Antigen 1 which can indicate whether Lyme is likely to have triggered an autoimmune problem, Yersinia, H. pylori, Covid-19, Epstein Barr Virus, herpes viruses, CMV, Parvo B 19 virus, Chlamydia pneumonaie, Campylobacter.
*Basal ganglia encephalitis (Where a specific area known as the basal ganglia is targeted by the immune system - Almost any of the well known bacterial and viral infections, including strep, yeast and Candida infections.
*Type 1 diabetes (this is the autoimmune kind) - Viral infections including: CMV, enteroviruses (starting out in the gut) like Coxsackievirus strain B and Echovirus, Covid. Bacterial infections including: Chlamydia pneumonaie and H. pylori.
*Crohn’s/Inflammatory Bowel Disease - Bacterial infection: Mycobacterium avian, certain strains of E. coli, C. difficile, CMV, HERVs.
*Guillain Barre syndrome - Bacterial infections: Campylobacter jejeuni, Mycoplasma pneumonaie. Viral infections: CMV, EBV, Influenza,
Covid, Coxsackievirus.
*Sjogren’s syndrome (where immune system attacks the glands that produce tears and saliva, although it can affect a variety of other organs) - Viruses include: EBV, CMV, Hepatitis C, HHV-6 (Herpres Virus 6), Human T-lymphotropic virus type 1.
*Lupus (SLE) - Viruses include: EBV, CMV, Parvovirus B19, HERVs.
If you are have been diagnosed with an autoimmune condition and would like to explore potential underlying triggers more closely, please get in touch with the Good Health Clinic on goodhealthclinic@outlook.com to request a free 30 minute Enquiry Call or book an appointment. Please note that an Enquiry call is not a consultation but an exploratory call to see if this is a clinical approach you wish to pursue.To your very good health,
Suzanne Jeffery (Nutritional Medicine Consultant)
M.A.(Oxon), BSc.(NMed), PGCE, GNC, BSEM, MNNA, CNHC
The Good Health Clinic at The Business Centre, 2, Cattedown Road, Plymouth PL4 0EG
Tel no: 07836 552936/ Answer phone: 01752 774755
Disclaimer:
All advice given out by Suzanne Jeffery and the Good Health Clinic is for general guidance and informational purposes only. All advice relating to other health professionals’ advice is for general guidance and information purposes only. Readers are encouraged to confirm the information provided with other sources. Patients and consumers should review the information carefully with their professional health care provider. The information is not intended to replace medical advice offered by other practitioners and physicians. Suzanne Jeffery and the Good Health Clinic will not be liable for any direct, indirect, consequential, special, exemplary or other damages arising therefrom.