What Is Autoimmune Disease?

There is an epidemic in the US that statistically has more of a negative impact on women than men. It's unsettling and unfair. 

This epidemic is called Autoimmune Disease (AD).  Personally, it has hit home in recent days as my beloved mother and business partner has just been diagnosed with AD. My next several blog posts will be based entirely on this subject. Call it my way of both coping with the drama while also staying true to my mission about educating people about whole health.



When I asked my mom how she felt about me sharing this health crisis with you she was all for it, "as long as it could help someone."

So What Exactly is AD?

The AD "umbrella" is broad and growing, as more people fall prey to a new garden variety of AD every year. The many diseases covered under this umbrella of AD are (to name a few): Chrohn's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, scleroderma, ulcerative colitis, lupus and multiple sclerosis.

I have a few close female friends (my age or younger) that have been told they have one or more of these conditions and they are either on medication to manage the symptoms or refusing medication and trying to manage things on their own. 

Hardcore Data

According to a recent report, in 1992 there were roughly 67 known auto immune conditions in the United States, with another 20 being strongly suspected as autoimmune in nature. It now encompasses over 100 diseases.

Of the fifty million people living with some sort of autoimmune condition, 75% of them are women! Staggering and unfair, don't you think?

Worse, these conditions (AD) are among the top 10 causes of death in women under 65. 

Economic Impact

Make sure you're sitting when you read this next statistic:

AD conditions are responsible for more than $100 billion in direct health care costs annually. That figure, put out by the National Institutes of Health, is actually an estimate. According to new data, that estimate is likely too conservative a number! Are you a little upset by that? That's the idea. 

Tension creates vision, as someone once said.

My Mom's Condition - 3 Tell Tale Signs

If you were to sit and talk to my mother, you would notice that a bottle of water never leaves her hand. If she isn't constantly sipping on something she cannot even speak, she's so dry.  

She also suffers from extreme dry eyes. The ophthalmologist gave her drops for her eyes years ago and she's been using them faithfully, but they have not been much help. In fact her last visit to him, showed that her cornea has little holes in it - "kind of like swiss cheese" he said.

Additionally, she's had Raynaud's Phenomena, which is a condition where her fingers turn blue or white, and go numb. It used to be that a cooler climate, such as an air conditioned building, would trigger the "phenomena." Now it can happen in any environment, at any time. I've witnessed it several times. (I also witnessed her doctor tell her "not to worry about it." How is the circulatory system something to "not worry about?") 

Her body is inflamed! Her feet and hands are swelling, her food has been getting "stuck" in her esophagus when she eats. She has been terribly fatigued. Obviously, all of this is disturbing!

My Research of AD

As I always do when a family member is struck by something, I started delving deep into trying to understand what exactly the "condition" is all about.  My research the last week or so has taken me from youtube to online medical journals and articles. I was not pleased with much of what I read and saw.  

What most health professionals out there will tell you is that all you can do for AD is manage symptoms with immunosuppressant drugs, steroids and/or pain medication. There is no cause or cure for AD.

What we do know is what happens in a person with AD. Essentially, the white cells, which are supposed to protect us from invaders, pathogens, bacteria, for some reason- "in error", the white cells begin attacking the body! Thus, in my mom's condition, her white cells have damaged her exocrine glands. Her immune system, conventional wisdom will say, is making "errors."

I Don't Buy It!

If you know me at all, you know that this conclusion about the body mysteriously doing things "in error," flies in the face of everything I believe about the body and how and why God made it.

The body is brilliant, innately intelligent. It will do what it was designed to do every time. The response will be appropriate to the environment it is in, both physiologically and geographically.

Here's an example of what I mean about appropriate response and adaptation:

Let's say you are dizzy and feel faint for lack of oxygen. What will your body do ultimately? It will land you flat on your back or your face! Why? Because it knows that your brain needs blood to keep flowing to it or you will die! 

Would it be inconvenient for you to land on the floor? Sure. Is it embarrassing? Maybe. But if you didn't end up in a position that forced blood to keep flowing to your brain, you wouldn't live to read this article!

That's why I can't accept the notion that the body suddenly lost its intelligence and now doesn't know what it's doing. There's a reason it's doing what it's doing. Rather than slap a label on it and pull out the prescription pad, how about we look into the cause and stop settling for managing the symptoms? The video below provides a great explanation of how the body is designed to strive toward wellness every moment we're alive. Take a few minutes to watch it and be amazed! 

What We Are Doing For Her: Phase 1

Having grown more than disappointed by the way my mother's concerns were handled, we moved her to another doctor. This time, we have her going to an Integrative Doctor.  An Integrative Doctor is a physician that uses both alternative and conventional methods of caring for their patient. They are more open minded to natural methods and cures than a conventional doctor is. 

I went with her yesterday to her first visit with this new doctor. After asking my mother about her health history, one thing became abundantly clear. My mother has been on antibiotics for one reason or another for most of her adult life - up until about 5 years ago. 

Her (former) doctor had told her for years, that she had a "low grade UTI and that it's common in the elderly and if it got bad she should come see him to get some-" you guessed it: antibiotics. So - the fact is even though my mom has been supplementing with a probiotic, she's also had this UTI wreaking havoc in her body and it doesn't take an MD or a rocket scientist to know that an infection that is allowed to persist screws with the body! 

Like it or not, we humans are made up mainly of bacteria! Without the right balance of it, all kinds of sicknesses can hit us hard. So the first piece of this health puzzle, is we need to restore her good flora/bacteria.

So you know, it's estimated that for every round of antibiotic, the body needs 3 months to restore good flora. My mom turns 74 next week. I'm no mathematician but if she's been on antibiotics most of her adult life, that means she needed an awful lot of time to build her good flora back up!

Balance Is Key

Instead of supplementing with a probiotic in pill form, the new doctor wants my mom to eat a fermented food every day. My fermented food of choice is and always has been miso, fermented soy. A while back I was making a miso broth and drinking a cup or 2 every day. I found it very soothing and it tasted good. As we speak my mom is probably at Whole Foods, picking up some miso paste and hopefully preparing some for herself.

Other measures we are taking as per doctor's orders: She is to have something warm for breakfast with a cup of hot water and raw honey. Salads and raw greens should be consumed during the day. Evening meals should be a lean protein and a lightly steamed vegetable rather than a salad. She's to document in a journal form, everything she eats, drinks, when she eats and drinks it and also her sleep patterns for 2 weeks. The doctor said she wants to see what the "rhythm of her life is like." She also "prescribed" massage therapy. These out of pocket expenses for massage and eventually acupuncture will add up and be challenging but - how can we not do it for her?

Overall, I was impressed with the new doctor's approach. I respect the concept of  taking things step by step and not changing so many things at once. She respects our decision to not just "medicate" the symptoms.

I will be updating you again on my mom's progress through this condition again shortly. In the meantime, I want to encourage you to do 2 things:

1)   Be your own advocate! If you think that something is not quite right with you, see your family physician and insist on appropriate response. If you are not happy with your doctor, find another one who will take you seriously! It's YOUR body and you only get one! Synthetic parts are no replacement for the original.

2) Take advantage of technology today and educate yourself about your body systems. Watch videos, study, learn and consult with more than one expert in the field before you agree to treatments or protocols. Understand WHY what's going on is going on and don't just settle for the prescription pad. Chances are there are a lot more options. Look into them. Never go into anything blindly. Don't be afraid to ask about risk, objectives, etc.


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