Welcome - Autoimmune Epidemic
What's all this about? New flu pandemic? No, that's autoimmune epidemic!
Book "The Autoimmune Epidemic: Bodies Gone Haywire in a World Out of Balance--and the Cutting-Edge Science that Promises Hope" (2008) by
Donna Jackson Nakazawa,
an autoimmune sufferer herself
Foreword to "The Autoimmune Epidemic"
by Douglas Kerr, M.D., Ph.D.:
- founder and director of the Johns Hopkins Transverse Myelitis (TM) Center, the only center in the world dedicated to developing new therapies for this paralyzing autoimmune disorder
- faculty neurologist and neuroscientist at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore Maryland, for the last decade evaluating and treating patients with autoimmune disorders of the nervous system
He explains:
- Increasingly, I see that more and more patients are being felled by this devastating disorder (Transverse Myelitis)
- Infants as young as five months old can get TM and some are left permanently paralyzed and dependent upon a ventilator to breathe. But this is supposed to be a rare disorder, reportedly affecting only one in a million people
- Prior to the 1950s, there were a grand total of four cases reported in the medical literature
- Currently, my colleagues at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and I hear about or treat hundreds of new cases every year
- In the multiple sclerosis clinic, where I also see patients, the number of cases likewise continues to climb
This really trustworthy expert is sharing his collected information:
- Autoimmune diseases have not always been this common. The prevalence of autoimmune diseases like systemic lupus erythematosus, or lupus, multiple sclerosis, and type 1 diabetes is on the rise
- In some cases, autoimmune diseases are three times more common now than they were several decades ago. These changes are not due to increased recognition of these disorders or altered diagnostic criteria
- Rather, more people are getting autoimmune disorders than ever before
Later he's providing a short explanation about operation of immune system:
- The immune system ... is charged with an amazingly complex task: to recognize and ignore all the cells and tissues within the body and - at the same time - to attack any and all "invaders", foreign cells, viruses, bacteria, or fungi
- ...wondrously complex immune system can successfully protect our bodies while recognizing and eliminating billions of distinct infections with which we come in contact. When functioning well, the immune system immediately recognizes a virus or bacteria that has gotten into our body and initiates a spirited and robust attack on the invader, allowing us to recover from a cold after only a few days
- But this precisely choreographed dance between the immune system and the tissues it is designed to protect goes badly awry in autoimmune diseases. In such diseases, the immune system mistakes friend for foe and begins to attack the very tissues it was designed to protect. The soldiers guarding the castle turn and attack it
He asks rhetoric questions and explains:
- But what triggers autoimmunity to occur? Throughout human history, our exposure to such myriad infectious agents has triggered an evolutionary arms race. Our immune system has evolved increasingly sophisticated countermeasures and recognition systems to combat the increasing diversity of the infectious agents with which we come in contact
- But this increasing sophistication comes with a cost: an increased chance of the system breaking down. We have evolved right to the edge of the immune system’s capacity...
- Now, over the last 40 years, something has been pushing that system over the edge. Something is causing the immune system to increasingly make mistakes in which the line becomes blurred, the immune system attacks the body itself, and autoimmune disease occurs
- In all likelihood, much of the reason for this often catastrophic mistake of the immune system comes from the countless environmental toxins to which we are currently exposed—toxins that interfere with the way the immune system communicates with the rest of the body
Some statistics (are you here?):
- The numbers are staggering: one in twelve Americans—and one in nine women—will develop an autoimmune disorder
- And since it is clear that not every patient with an autoimmune disease is correctly diagnosed, the prevalence is certainly higher than that...
...
Concerned about health in general or autoimmune disorder in particular? Lots of info in the book:
Final words:
- You will leave this book with no reservations about the veracity of the conclusions: put simply, there is no doubt that autoimmune diseases are on the rise and our increasing environmental exposure to toxins and chemicals is fueling this rise
- The research is sound
- The conclusions unassailable
Reading The Autoimmune Epidemic is a necessary first step Reading The Autoimmune Epidemic is a life-altering event
It needs to be
Comments
Thank you for that very interesting study on autoimmune diseases, i would like to know as to where i could the actual treatment seeking rates of therapeutics for autoimmune complications. Cheers, Suraj
Thank you for making this website. I was diagnosed with MS which turned out to be Lyme disease...which I am now fighting. There are a high number of false negatives in Lyme testing from what I understand (close to 50 percent). There is little or no help for a person suffering with Lyme disease in the medical community. The symptoms of MS and Lyme disease are nearly identical...makes me wonder. Thank you for your advice...I am taking a Lumbrokinase which has powerful systemic enzymatic activity which breaks down the biofilm cause by the bugs that cause my disease. I plan on looking into the enzymes that you have suggested. You are so right about the importance of nutrition...good whole healthy food is medicine to help your body heal...and lots of oxygen. I am very glad that you were able to heal yourself of MS...I believe that all disease is curable too...the pharmaceutical companies just don't want people to know that... and that is why almost every serious disease one can think of is "incurable".
I have Lyme Disease and am working with a LLD. Often MS is misdiagnosed and is really Lyme Disease, as they have similar symptoms and Lyme can mask many *Other* diseases including MS. I am going to add enzymes to my Lyme protocol and was wondering which one or kind I should use? There are SO many out there and I won't take anything that has fillers in them (Magnesium Stearate) so any advice will be helpful. I have a lot of physical pain as well and my liver, gallbladder, pancreas, and small interstine need help. Thanks L.P.
A friend of mine is suffering from rheumatoid arthritis that is ravaging his whole body.If he does any type of work, he knows the next day he will be be in bed the whole day.I read the book Enzymes The Fountain Of Life and learned about the treatment you perform for MS patients is very similar to the treatment they give the arthritis patients.I have learned that the immune complexes tear up the body and a successful treatment is with Enzyme Therapy and with using the specialized Inflammatory Enzymes. Is there any way I could get any information on acquiring and who do I talk to about this. Thank you and I appreciate any help you give me.
Hi, We need to stimulate our own stem cells. Mannatech Inc. has a couple of products that have helped auto immune sufferers including those with ms. Ambrotose activates bone marrow to produce stem cells in abundance. This is a well researched company, lots of science, committed to natural pathways. Bounce Back is a proteolytic based product which reduces inflamation as you mentioned enzyme therapy. Anne