"Auto" is the Greek word for self. The immune system is a complicated network that works to defend your body and eliminate infections, viruses and invasions of all types of microbes. It takes care of challenges of all sorts, ranging from colds and flu to wounds, and even cancer.
Autoimmune diseases occur when the immune system becomes confused and attacks the body, targeting its own cells, tissues and organs. When immune cells collect at a target site, inflammation occurs.
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There are dozens of autoimmune diseases, each affecting the body in a different way. An autoimmune reaction targeting the brain and the nervous system manifests as multiple sclerosis (MS), and when it takes place in the gut, it's called Crohn's disease. The immune system's attack on joints manifests as rheumatoid arthritis. A systemic autoimmune reaction takes place in lupus (systemic lupus erythematosus), affecting anything from skin and joints to kidneys and lungs to the brain. Type 1 diabetes (once known as juvenile onset) is the result of the immune system's attack on insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.
In the next few posts, we'll talk about four autoimmune diseases that most commonly affect women. As a group, autoimmune diseases afflict millions of Americans, 75% of them women. Women of working age and in their childbearing years are particularly prone to these diseases.
The most common autoimmune diseases from which patients with yeast overgrowth suffer are multiple sclerosis and myasthenia gravis.
Again, I'm not saying yeast overgrowth causes autoimmune diseases, but I am suggesting there might be a link somewhere.
MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS
The Multiple Sclerosis Society calls MS "a chronic unpredictable neurological disease" that affects an estimated 400,000 Americans. Women are 2.6 times more likely than men to have MS, but the disease progresses more quickly in men. It's the fourth-leading cause of disability in American women. Most victims are in their 40s and 50s.
Alarmingly, the number of women with MS has dramatically increased in the past 20 years, jumping 50% between the 1980s and the 1990s without explanation, according to the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association.
Medical science suggests multiple sclerosis is caused by the immune system turning against the tissues of the brain and the spinal cord. When the immune system kicks in, it strips the neurons of their protective insulation, making simple actions such as walking and talking more difficult, usually resulting in fatigue, tremor and paralysis. This normally takes place when the patient is between the ages of 20 and 40. Science has not yet found a cure for MS, but there are treatments.
Symptoms
These symptoms may be permanent or they may come and go:
- extreme fatigue
- blurred vision
- loss of balance
- poor coordination
- slurred speech
- tremors
- numbness
- problems with memory and concentration
- paralysis (in severe cases)
- blindness
Immune-system-suppressing drugs can reduce the severity of the symptoms, but they don't cure the disease.
Stress can worsen MS symptoms, and a general wellness program, irgluding ex~, a healthy diet and stress management are part of the standard treatment for MS, along with prescription medications that can ease symptoms.
MYASTHENIA GRAVIS
Myasthenia gravis is similar to MS, but they are on the surface only. It is a deficiency of neuromuscular transmission affecting about 36,000 people in the United States. Most of them are women between the ages of 20 and 30, and the disease gradually affects more men after age 50.
Autoimmune attacks on the nerve-muscle junction are believed to cause myasthenia gravis (sometimes known as Aristotle Onassis' disease).
Symptoms
- muscle weakness, but not usually fatigue
- eye muscle disturbances
- drooping eyelids
- difficulty chewing, swallowing or talking
- tumors on the thymus gland
- blurred vision
- weakness in arms or legs
- unstable or waddling gait
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Treatment
There is widespread disagreement in the medical profession about the treatment of myasthenia gravis. Spontaneous improvement and even remission are possible, especially in the early stages of the disease.
Prescription drugs such as cholinesterase inhibitors (Mestinon and Prostigmin) are helpful for some patients, corticosteroids and immuno-suppressant drugs are helpful to others, but all three can have serious side effects. Other possible treatments include intravenous immune globulin treatments, plasma exchange and surgical removal of the thymus gland. To find out more, you can check out Is Yeast Overgrowth Real.