DIGESTION, GUT HEALTH & IMMUNE SYSTEM:
In a webinar with Kiran of Microbiome Labs (see video here), explains the steps of “Disruption of Immune Homeostasis”.
- Environmental triggers
- Breakdown in oral tolerance
- Change in gut microbiota and enhanced permeability
- Immune reactivity
- Auto-immunity
We have over 100 different types of auto immune disorders or diseases in our world including brain, thyroid, bones, muscles, skin, lungs, joints, tongues, joints, nerves, GI TRACT, and blood.
What are our environmental triggers in the development of auto-immune diseases?
Is there a genetic defect? Or is it our environment? Or both?
Genetic changes. It must be something outside of genetics- the environment we live in!
Auto-immune disorders is when your body attacks itself – specific parts of your body as your thyroid.
What are the compounding factors that makes this happens? Why?
Is our environment killing us?
What are the triggers?
Inflammation is the main driver of autoimmune disease… the milieu where the auto immune disease will brew. A specific type of inflammation is coming from our own environment.
Autoimmune condition and response = inflammation.
- 30% estimated auto immune risk is genetic
- 70% estimated auto immune risk is environmental – diet, toxic chemicals and infections
These triggers (diet, toxic chemicals and infections) disrupt immune homeostasis by acting as a trigger which then causes disruption. The toxins in the food you eat, the air your breathe in, the pathogen that sneaks into your body …the environmental triggers cause a breakdown in oral tolerance. This means that the body loses the ability to recognize SELF from NON-SELF proteins -driven by inflammation.
Oral intolerance will change the microbiome. The feedback loop – the system feeds itself as one issue impacts the other. Inflammation increases oral tolerance increases gut permeability- microbiota imbalanced – more inflammation.
How do you stop this cycle?
The body has no tolerance and can’t recognize SELF from NON-SELF… then drives more auto-immune reactions!
All sorts of auto-immune disorders can accumulate as a domino effect when breakdown oral tolerance- changes gut microbiota- increases immune reactivity then leads to auto-immunity in many forms.
The triad of disease- autoimmune induction: 2/3 of these will trigger auto-immune disease
- Genetic predisposition (not always required)
- Environmental triggers (we are so saturated with triggers!)
- Dysbiosis and inflammation (driven often by our environmental triggers)
You can dramatically reduce your risk for disease as genetic snps for IL-9, NOD2, IL-10, VDR perturbed immune response can end up with types of inflammation which can lead to auto-immune issues.
Environmental Triggers:
- Chronic viral infections: 50% of IBD patients have EBV in mucosa
- ABX use
- Diet
- Toxin exposure – mycotoxins, glyspohate
Dysbiosis & Inflammation:
- Disruption in microbiota-immune cross talk
- Inflammation in the intestines and then systemic inflammation
- Too much LPS
- Leaky gut
To create a diverse microbiome – we need the microbiota to be able to communicate with the immune system and pattern recognition systems… a healthy microbiome is essential to a healthy immune system.
We lose the cross-talk between the microbiome and immune system when there is the dysbiosis in the gut and inflammation in the intestines – leads to systemic inflammation and “leaks” through the small intestine creating more problems or inflammation. The communication between what the body is exposed to and how it should react is lost!
The biggest surface area is in our small intestine- digestive tract so if the digestive tract is inflamed then it going to stimulate inflammation all throughout the body. Including LPS. LPS triggers the kind of inflammation that sets up auto-immune disease.
Kiran mentions that “inflammation is the swimming pool that auto-immunity swims in. Without inflammation it is very hard to induce auto-immunity. With inflammation, auto-immunity risk is much higher. Nothing can trigger than a dysbiosis, inflamed intestinal wall.
Mucosa and epithelial tissues that leads to hyper permeability and leaky gut plus loss of cross-talk …it is a domino effect of breakdown and dysfunction!
Auto-immune syndrome: doctors put a label on your condition. The pathology has not become severe enough to label it specifically.
Subjects experience – often with unknown causes… as I was experiencing while I thought I was “doing everything right”.
- Fatigue
- Malaise
- Low-grade fever
- Aches and pains – wake up not feeling rested
- Digestive issues – bloating, cramping, bowel issues, intolerances to food
- Combination of symptoms
The origin is unexplained by the doctor or the individual. They can’t figure out why the don’t feel well…but they could be on the path towards auto-immune dysfunction. We can’t diagnose but we can look at the WHOLE picture to identify clues to dysfunction and imbalances – loss of homeostasis.
Environmental triggers are often ignored or oblivious to us!
Are you on the path to autoimmune syndrome?
How can you rescue yourself and stop going down this inflammation response?
The three major categories of environmental triggers are
- FOOD
- TOXINS
- PATHOGENS
Kiran shares that “these environmental triggers activate the immune process that LEADS to the activation of immune cells that become auto-immune. These triggers then can cause immunological and chemical changes to the antigens to induce autoimmunity.”
Too confusing? Let’s look up the definition of the following…
- Antigen = a toxin or foreign substance which induces an immune response in the body, especially in the production of antibodies. Antigens (Ag) are structures/substances bound by antibodies (Ab) or cell surface of Ab- B cell antigen. A structural molecule after processing the native antigen that can be recognized by T-cell receptor (TCR), BCR and TCR are both highly variable antigen receptors… both T cells and B cells are cellular components of ADAPTIVE immunity.
- Antibody = Ab is known as an immunoglobulin (Ig) –Y shaped protein used by immune system to neutralize pathogens such as pathogenic bacteria and viruses. The antibody recognizes a unique molecule of the pathogen, called antigen…
- Autoimmunity = disease caused by antibodies or lymphocytes produced against substances naturally present in the body… “the infection triggers an auto-immune response”.
- Immune system – Wikipedia = the cells of the adaptive immune system are special types of leukocytes (called lymphocytes). B Cells and T Cells are the major types of lymphocytes.
Autoimmunity = the system of the immune responses of the organisms against its own healthy cells and tissues. Any disease that results from an aberrant immune response is termed “auto-immune disease”.
The environmental triggers that activate the immune process- leading to auto-immunity can be avoided, controlled or improved.
More to come… I have over 100 pages in my word document on CHRONIC STRESS-GUT HEALTH-IMMUNE SYSTEM connection!
Learn more about Microbiome Labs and their Total Gut Restoration program here … click here