Autoimmune Disease
Expert Round-Table on Thyroid Immune Testing, Guidelines and Clinical Impact on Women’s Health
Diagnosing and treating thyroid conditions in women is extremely important, concluded a group of practitioners in a recent round-table discussion, “Thyroid Immune Testing – Guidelines, Testing Platforms, and Clinical Impact on Women’s Health,” and published in the Journal of Women’s Health. The goal of the Expert Panel Discussion was toRead
Low-Dose Naltrexone for the Treatment of Psoriasis Vulgaris
This case study presents a 60-year-old woman came to the clinic with a history of moderate, generalized plaque psoriasis covering 10% of her body surface area (BSA). Previous treatments included narrow-band UVB phototherapy (NBUVB). At her request, the physicians prescribed low-dose naltrexone (LDN) for a six-month period. The following isRead
Managing Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis Through Personalized Care: A Case Report
Common Kitchen Ingredient, Baking Soda, Reduces Autoimmune Response in Humans
Is it crazy to think that something as simple as a daily dose of baking soda could significantly lower the damage caused by inflammation and autoimmune response for diseases like rheumatoid arthritis? It’s not crazy at all, say researchers from the Medical College of Georgia. Their study, published in theRead
Newly Found Lymphatic System Connects Brain & Immunity
You can forget everything you learned in medical school about the lymphatic system (well, not everything). But researchers at the University of Virginia found undiscovered vessels that directly connect the brain and lymphatic system, as published in Nature. Despite decades of contrary opinions they did not exist, this changes everythingRead
Practice Model: Nutritional Program for Rheumatoid Arthritis
Clues Connect Estrogen and Autoimmune Disease
There is a phenomenon that scientists have yet to solve, regardless of whether a woman lives in the United States, where medical care is relatively good, or third world nations, where medical care is often scarce: women are less likely to die from infectious diseases than men. The lower death rate has been attributed to a beneficial, yet unexplained effect estrogen has on the immune system. Females of child-bearing age are more resistant to infectious disease and have an increased risk of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). This study hypothesized that estrogen-induced gene expression could establish an immunoactivated state which would render enhanced defense against infection, but may be deleterious in autoimmune development.By Nicholas A. Young, Lai-Chu Wu, et al, Estrogen modulation of endosome-associated toll-like receptor 8: An IFNα-independent mechanism of sex-bias in systemic lupus erythematosus. Clinical Immunology, March 2014
Integrative Nutritional Approach to Rheumatoid Arthritis
This archived case study Dan Lukaczer, ND is a useful model for practitioners seeking to develop a nutritional approach to treating arthritic symptoms. As Lukaczer points out in this case study, the relationship between rheumatoid arthritis [or any form of arthritis] and the myriad potential environmental triggers is beyond the scope of this report. Instead, this paper addresses the use of a focused nutritional support program and discusses select environmental influences to illustrate the rationale behind this clinical approach. Given the complexity of RA, no one approach can benefit all patients, but it is hoped that the case illustrated here will show how a nutritional program can be personalized, leading to a clinically-beneficial result. Registered users and Today’s Practitioner members can access the entire case study.
Integrative Nutritional Approach to the Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis, Published in Integrative Medicine, A Clinician’s Journal Vol. 4, No. 2 by Dan Lukaczer, ND
Integrative Solutions for Thyroid Autoimmune Disease
Autoimmune diseases are a group of disorders in which the immune system dysfunctions and attacks host tissues. Although the pathogenesis of autoimmune thyroid disease has not been elucidated, there are several factors that have been associated with the disorder. Factors include genetic predisposition, nutrient deficiencies, use of certain medications affecting thyroid function, and environmental factors including exposure to radiation, heavy metals, and chemical contaminants. Thyroid disorders are often treated with drug therapy, which often have serious side effects and do not necessarily treat the underlying condition leading to the thyroid dysfunction. In recent years there has been increased interest in herbs and supplements as individuals take more interest in their health and well being…
For the Assessment of Intestinal Permeability, Size Matters
The purpose of this review is to demonstrate that an intestine leaky to small molecules can be impermeable to large antigenic molecules. The author proposes that the permeability of the epithelium to very small sugar molecules such as lactulose/mannitol—used for the past 50 years to gauge intestinal permeability…