Treating Auto-Immune Diseases Naturally

Autoimmunity is a common diagnosis these days. Autoimmune diseases include: lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, thyroiditis, multiple sclerosis, hepatitis, celiac disease, pernicious anemia, inflammatory bowel disease, vasculitis, myasthenia gravis,  Ménière's disease, Raynaud's phenomenon, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia.

Autoimmunity is when your immune system attacks your own cells. The immune system's job is to protect you. The white blood cells are specifically programmed by the thymus to know the difference between you and other. When the white blood cells attack your healthy cells, tissues and organs that is called autoimmunity.

There are more than eighty types of autoimmune disorders or diseases. Many autoimmune diseases have similar symptoms which makes getting a diagnosis frustrating and difficult.

The first symptoms of autoimmunity are often fatigue, muscle aches, and low grade fever - early signs of your body attacking itself. Classically autoimmune diseases are characterized by inflammation which can cause redness, heat and swelling. But not always. Some autoimmune diseases are internal like autoimmune thyroiditis where redness and heat are not seen, while swelling of the thyroid comes later.

Some autoimmune diseases can be diagnosed through blood tests which pick up immune markers like rheumatoid factor for rheumatoid arthritis. Some autoimmune diseases can cause an elevation in ANA - antinuclear antibody- which is a general marker found in the blood that indicates inflammation somewhere in the body. While an ANA is not specific and can rise and fall with autoimmune flareups and remissions, it is a good starting point if you suspect autoimmunity.

To treat autoimmune flareups, conventional medicine prescribes cortisone to reduce inflammation. Chronic use of cortisone can cause significant issues with adrenal function. The adrenal glands make cortisone in response to stress but when you take what you should be making you hamper your body's ability to make it. Many of my autoimmune patients treated with long term cortisone have adrenal fatigue. Often untreated autoimmune patients come to me with adrenal issues. Why? Because their exhausted adrenal glands have been working overtime to reduce their autoimmune inflammation.

How to treat autoimmunity naturally:

1) BALANCE YOUR HYPOTHALAMUS

I have found that by balancing the hypothalamus, we can get to the core issue of autoimmunity. You see, the hypothalamus controls the immune system, at night your hypothalamus triggers your pituitary gland to produce prolactin. Prolactin trigger the thymus to program white blood cells known as lymphocytes to know the difference between you and other. Other is any bacteria, fungi, virus, or mutant cancer cell. Your trained lymphocytes, called T-cells, know how to tell the difference between your normal healthy body cells and foreign cells. In autoimmunity, the thymus does not program your lymphocytes properly, releasing poorly trained T-cells into your bloodstream which attack normal healthy tissues. By balancing the hypothalamus, the thymus does a better job at properly programming T-cells.

I use my Sacred Seven® amino acids to balance the hypothalamus. I also use Genesis Gold® to provide nutritional support for the immune system to heal. Genesis Gold® also supports healthy function of the endocrine system including the adrenals which are critical in healthy immune response.

• "Thank you for a great product. It really helps my wife. She has ms (multiple sclerosis) for 19 years Genesis Gold has helped more than anything else we have tried." Bill Pinto, Australia
  

2) CLEANUP YOUR DIET

I also recommend that my patients clean up their diet. I usually recommend my Insulin Resistant Diet, plus bone broths for extra healing nutrition for their gut. The intestine is one of the first line of defense against invasion and becomes hypersensitive to grains, food additives, and chemicals in autoimmunity. Remember the adrenals respond initially to autoimmune triggers with excessive cortisone production and cortisol/cortisone thins the healthy intestinal lining leading to leaky gut syndrome. Once we take away the offending foods, the gut heals well with probiotics, glutamine, and Genesis Gold®.

3) SLEEP IN THE DARK

Remember prolactin controls your thymus' programming of your lymphocytes. Prolactin is produced at high levels at night, peaking about three hours after melatonin peaks and lasting for eight hours. You produce an eight hour window of high prolactin every 24 hours. If your prolactin is dyscircadian, meaning it's high during your waking hours rather than at night when you should be asleep, then your lymphocytes are more likely to attack normal healthy cells. I check an 8-9am serum prolactin on all my patients to see is they are in a healthy circadian rhythm (day-night cycle). Autoimmune patients often have high daytime prolactin. The prolactin level will not necessarily be above the highest range of normal for the patient's gender or age, but anything over 9 after 9am is dyscircadian.

Sleeping in the dark is the first change that must be made. Getting patients to go to bed within a few hours of dark is important to resetting their circadian rhythm. Having them avoid watching TV or getting on the computer, their laptops, iPads,phones or other screens after dark helps them make normal melatonin levels and thus healthy circadian prolactin levels. The blue light from the screens mimics the sunrise which suppresses melatonin production and delays prolactin production resulting in low nighttime and high daytime prolactin which contributes to autoimmunity.  If you must expose yourself to a computer screen, television or other eletronic device after dark, then use pink tinted sunglasses to mimic the dusk and increase your nighttime melatonin and prolacitn levels. Remember prolactin triggers the immune response so having high daytime prolactin is like having an active army patrolling while citizens are trying to work. Innocents (your healthy cells) are going to get hurt.

4) ELIMINATE THE UNDERLYING TRIGGER OF YOUR AUTOIMMUNITY

It's important to find the deep underlying trigger for each individual's autoimmune disorder. Interestingly enough the trigger to autoimmune disease is different for everyone. Some autoimmunity is triggered by stress. Some by toxins. Some by malnutrition. Some by viruses or intracellular bacterium. Sometimes there are multiple causes that trigger autoimmune response. Often people with one type of autoimmune disease will eventually develop other autoimmune disorders.

For instance, I have a patient with longstanding pernicious anemia who developed a blockage in one of her coronary arteries requiring a stent to be placed. Her cardiologist could not figure out why this patient who is not overweight, has low cholesterol, low blood sugar, low blood pressure had a nearly 90% blockage of a main coronary artery. I suspected a form of autoimmune vasculitis. She is responding really well to hypothalamic balancing and a novel therapy designed especially for her case.

It takes some medical detective work to get to the root of autoimmunity. Since each of my patients come with a unique history, I must think out of the box to find what might be causing their autoimmune disorder.

5) UNVEIL THE CORE BELIEF THAT MAY BE CAUSING YOUR DISEASE

This is the hardest part of the treatment. Finding what may be underlying the patient's autoimmune disorder from a psychospiritual level takes some finesse. Thankfully balancing their hypothalamus with Sacred Seven and Genesis Gold can deepen their sleep and often their subconscious reveals the truth to them in dreams. As I get to know a patient, their core issue becomes apparent and when they are ready to deal with it, we do. Sometimes I am blessed to have a new patient come to me for a consult and they are so ripe (ready to heal) that I can "see" what their core issue is, speak it, and the patient says, "Yes, that makes sense!"  Healing is much faster when we deal with the psychospiritual along with the physical.

I've had quite a few patients open up to their core issues after reading LoveDance®. I know it's a novel, but somehow the story unveils deep seated truths so that your self limiting beliefs become highlighted.

I hope this helps you understand autoimmunity a little better!

Give the gift of Health

 Genesis Gold® for the body.

LoveDance® for the soul.

How to Keep Your Joints Healthy Naturally

Ever notice that just as you start an exercise program, you become really aware of your joints? With the best of intentions you go out and start jogging.  Everything feels fine. Until the next morning when you get out of bed, step on the hard floor and the bottom of your feet complain, or your knees creak a bit, or your lower back aches?

Or perhaps you're too busy to exercise. You spend hours every day working on the computer. And every night you go to bed with sore shoulders and neck. Perhaps your wrists or elbows or thumbs ache, maybe they're even a little swollen sometimes.

Well, it's time to start taking care of your joints! Even if you're too young for osteoarthritis, you can slow down the wear and tear effect on your joints with proper care. And if you've already spent a few decades abusing your body, your joints will definitely benefit from care.

What are Joints?

Joints are where bones meet. Ligaments connect the bones to secure the joints. The ends of the bones are capped by cartilage which keeps the joint space intact by producing lubricating synovial fluid.  Meniscus are crescent shaped cartilage that partly divides a joint. Some joints are hinge joints like your knees. Some joints are ball and socket joints like your hips and shoulders. Some joints are sliding joints like the vertebrae in your spine.

Joint pain comes from many factors. Over-strained ligaments, too little lubrication, worn out cartilage. Osteoarthritis is a painful condition in which the joint cartilage is worn to the point that bone rubs on bone.

A Pain in the Neck

Recently, I've been having neck pain with numbness in my right arm.  It started with all this typing. Writing books, articles, blogging...too many hours on the keyboard  completing my two books, writing marketing articles, blogging, designing labels, graphics for lectures...too many hours hunched over my laptop.

I first noticed my neck issues in 2010. The same time my father was experiencing severe cervical neuropathy that required surgery. Getting my resistant father the care he needed through the medicare system was a symbolic "pain in the neck"! I wrote my neck issues off as empathic.

Now I did have a significant fall a couple years before. My horse tripped going down a muddy hill, went head of heels with me on her back. To avoid getting crushed, I vaulted off her back, tucked, rolled, and landed on my feet at the same moment my athletic horse landed on hers. My riding companion clapped, gave us a 10, and we called it a day. Just to be safe, I started my mare on natural anti-inflammatories (my DMAR Natural Anti-inflammatory Treatment) and had the equine chiropractor give her an adjustment. I did nothing for myself...I felt fine.

But that was the injury that haunts me now. My muscles tightened up to protect my vertebral joints and I added to the chronic tightness by too much keyboarding. About three years after the initial injury, I had enough pain and numbness to seek treatment.

After ruling out that I did not have a disc herniation, I sought chiropractic adjustment. Until my neck issues, I did not get regular adjustments, now I'm a believer. I always warm up first with direct heat or exercise and my chiropractor uses an electric massager that helps my muscles relax.

I also do traction. I apply heat to my neck for fifteen minutes twice daily. Then I "hang myself" with an over the door cervical traction device. It looks archaic and kind of scary...the first time my sister saw me in traction, she screamed, but then she tried it and felt relief from her neck tension. Gentle traction separates the joints. It's important to relax the muscle tension with heat before traction. I do this daily regimen until I no longer feel numbness or tingling which are signs of nerve compression, the slowly wean down the traction. Compressive activities like lots of computer work, horseback or motorcycle riding necessitate that I open up my cervical vertebrae with gentle traction from time to time. 

I've changed the way I keyboard. I use my iPad which I can easily place at a comfortable position in my lap to write all my first drafts. If I need to edit or do graphic work, I raise my desk chair as high as possible, bring my laptop as close as possible and support my dominant hand on a pillow on the arm of the desk chair. I also find that wearing my grain-filled hot wrap over my shoulders while I work reminds me to relax my shoulders.

Regular exercise helps improve circulation. Plus I do stretching and strengthening exercises. For my neck, I do yoga poses that focus on the neck and shoulders. Doing supported back bends over a large physical therapy ball helps to stretch my neck and upper back.

I also take nutritional supplements to support joint healing (my DMAR Natural Joint Therapy) Loss of disc space between the vertebrae is common as we age, so I'm doing all I can to keep my discs plump and my joints healthy.

Three tips to keep your joints healthy:

1) Adopt proper body mechanics

First you must change the way you're doing things that are causing pain. I have to go over my patients' body mechanics in relation to their injury to help them Realize what they need to do to stop aggravating the issue. That may mean buying better running shoes, jogging on soft surfaces like dirt rather than concrete, getting an expo to evaluate your body mechanics during the offending activity. It may mean ergonomic chair, computer placement with keyboard on your lap and screen at eye level. Massage and chiropractic adjustment may be necessary.

2) Strengthen muscle groups that support the affected joints

Exercise - the key to healing. Yes, strong muscles support your joints. Exercise specific for the affected joint is important. Low impact aerobic activity increases circulation and relieves muscle tension. An evaluation with an exercise physiologist or physical therapist may be necessary to find out what specific exercise you need to strengthen the muscles that support your affected joint. Usually the exercises necessary to help heal your pain are not the same ones you've been doing that caused the problem. Many runners with lower back issues have tight hamstrings which need to be stretched.

3) Nourish your joints to help them heal

You may be eating all organic, well balanced meals, but joint healing requires extra nutrients. Many of my older patients complained of joint pain when they ran out of Genesis Gold. The extra nutrition from the whole plant foods in Genesis Gold keeps inflammation at bay.

There are joint specific supplements that have been shown to hasten joint healing. Glucosamine and chondroitin have both been show to help repair cartilage. Hyluronic acid helps lubricate the joints. MSM has an anti inflammatory effect. Collagen can help repair joint damage. Hot herbs like frankincense and turmeric are excellent anti-inflammatories.

All these supplements can be found at most health food stores, pharmacies, or online. Unfortunately many people take these supplements improperly and do not get the full benefit. I've put together my favorite joint supplements in a protocol that seems to do the trick. Check out: DMAR Natural Joint Therapy.

If physical therapy, body work, or chiropractic adjustments do not seem to last, myofacsitis may be an issue. Fascia is a fibrous plane of tissue that holds muscles in place. When you injure a joint, the body protects itself by splinting the area. the muscles become tense and inflamed and eventually the fascia scars and holds the joint and muscles in malalignment. Sometimes the fascia needs to be released with deep massage in order to allow the muscles and joints to heal in proper alignment. If the fascia is softened up for 2-3 weeks before therapy, myofascial release works better and faster. I developed a nutritional protocol to hasten healing of old injuries prevent scarring in early injury that's my DMAR Natural Anti-inflammatory Treatment.

Yours in Health,

Deborah Maragopoulos MN FNP-BC
Intuitive Integrative Health