Integrative Practitioners share their thoughts ..

Here in this section I have invited 3 respected individuals who practice Integrative/Functional healthcare to share their thoughts on 'Autoimmune' issues.  Jennifer Garrett, Angela Haldane and Dr Kamal Karl.

Introducing Ange Haldane ‘Natural Ange’

'The Overlooked Role of Chronic Infection in Auto Immune conditions' by Angela Haldane,
NZRN comprehensive; Naturopath, Medical Herbalist MNZAMH QRA practitioner.

Have you ever felt that your auto immune condition or health condition stemmed from the last time you travelled and you got food poisoning? or since that root canal? or since that last operation or injury - you haven't been right since?

No matter how much nutrition or medicine you try, it doesn't make any difference? Here lies the interference factors that stand in the way of good health. Hidden infections such as parasites, biofilms, moulds, fungi, mycoplasmas or dental infections can make the immune system overwork, and thereby result in autoimmune conditions.

Chronic low grade infection is often overlooked and frequently goes un-diagnosed. It appears that the incidence of these infections have dramatically increased in recent years. Infections can become chronic due to the body's inability to clear invading pathogens, including infections from bacteria, nanobacteria, virus, mycoplasma, parasites and biofilms. (1,2,3,4,5,6)

Infection is a critical player which gradually exhausts the nutritional resources of the body. Upon studying the literature (especially in light of Panjwani's research) (7) which links autoimmune disease to viral infection, it appears clear that in chronic neurodegeneration, the process may often involve the immune system's relentless attack on the infected cells which provides a constant damaging stream of oxidative stress and ever - escalating levels of excitotoxicity and free radical injury to nerve cells (8), eventually leading to neuro-degenerative disease.

Neuro-degenerative disease may commence with symptoms such as fibromyalgia, anxiety, depression, memory problems etc.  The infection connection to neuro-degeneration is well established for numerous conditions of outright infection such as viral encephalitis, Lyme disease, AIDS, spongiform encephalitis (Mad Cow Disease) and other conditions are now linked to infection as well, such as dementia, stroke and so-called auto-immune disease.

The widespread use of hydrogenated oil in our food (hydrogenated vegetable oil or margarine) is known to reduce cell membrane fluidity (9), makes the cell much more permeable to bacteria and viruses and the cells become even more susceptible to cancer (10). Cell membrane permeability can be reversed by removing hydrogenated oils from your diet and replacing them with cold pressed oils - eg. olive oil.

Infection or trauma can initiate the inflammatory process. The process of inflammation can increase the free radical activity in neurons. Once again causing the neuro-degeneration cascade, which then causes nutritional deficiency, (especially with a lack of basic minerals calcium, magnesium and trace elements) which then allow chronic infection to take place.

"Consumption of wholefoods, in their unprocessed form, such as spinach, blueberries, carrots, broccoli, tumeric, buckwheat, kale, strawberries, grapes and many more, have shown the ability to reduce the risk of neurodegeneration beyond the sum of their measurable antioxidant and chemo protective effects. This fact suggests that currently unknown factors contained in these foods may be responsible for this protective effect" (11).

REFERENCES:

1 Potera . C (1996) Biofilms invade microbiology. Science Vol 273
2 Resource Library, Biofilm Systems training Lab, etc: http://www.erc.montana.edu/frmain.htm
3 (2000) Identification of mycoplasma in synovial fluid of arthritis. Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 38: 90-93
4 (1999) Mycoplasma bacteria tied to chronic illness. Medical Sentinel Vol 4. no 5, 172-75
5 Scott DW. (2001) Common mycoplasmas - now weaponised, pathogenic and deadly. Nexus magazine vol 8 NO. 5
6 (2001) International nanobacteria mini symposium http://www.nanobac.com/
7 Panjwani NN. (1995) Virus-Induced Autoimmune disease. Essays in Virology; 1(2), London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
8 Stoll G, Jander S. (1993) The role of microglia and macrophages in the pathophysiology of the CNS. Prog Neurobiol. 1995;58:233-247.
9 Booth PJ. (2001) Designing folding systems for membrane proteins. Albany Molecular Research Technical Reports. vol 6. no 63
10 Kano-Sueoko T (1999) Ethanolamine requirements for growth of mammalian epithelial cells in culture: reverse correlation with malignancy progression.
11 Marshall R.J PhD, CCN. The Overlooked Role of Chronic Infection in Neurodegeneration and its Reversal Using Neutraceutical Agents. Nutrition Perspectives: The Journal of the Council on Nutrition of the American Chiropractic Association, Part 1: Volume 27, No 2, April 2004, pp5-18; Part 2: Volume 27, No 3, July, 2004, pp5-1

Angela Haldane “Natural Ange”
m: 027 486 0237
e: ange@naturalange.co.nz
www.naturalange.com


Our contacts are:
e: info@autoimmune.org.nz
m: 0212444544

Introducing Jennifer Garrett ..

The Hidden Link between Leaky Gut & Immune Conditions

I’m Jennifer Garrett and as a Naturopath and Homeopath with over 25 years in practice, I’ve helped thousands of patients with their health issues, providing solutions and guidance for optimal health and well-being, plus the knowledge and confidence to remain well.

Now through Autoimmune New Zealand, I’ve been given the opportunity to share some of that knowledge with you. And so it begins...Zonulin, Gluten and Immune Diseases.  Continuing the gluten theme from an earlier blog post here is a short piece on a protein you’ve never heard of called Zonulin and how it affects you. I can see you roll your eyes and think, “what the h.... is zonulin”.  Well, you really need to read on and find out...

In 2000 researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in the US discovered that the protein Zonulin has a big part to play in leaky gut. They found that it regulated the permeability of tight junctions that hold your gut wall together.  Zonulin’s job is to open up the tight junctions when appropriate to allow digested food particles in and other stuff out of the blood stream. If these tight junctions become loose then the unready contents of your gut can make its way into the blood stream, and hey presto leaky gut. When this undigested food gets into the blood stream it can trigger an immune reaction, as the immune system sees it as a foreign body and tries to destroy it.  As a result it may also trigger a bunch of other immune responses.

Gluten’s role in all this is that, for some reason, it appears to up-regulate (make more) Zonulin and as a result not only compounds gluten’s effect for those people with coeliac disease, but it is suggested, other immune diseases as well.  So, due to gluten’s potential to cause leaky gut, whether diagnosed or not, it may very well be a problem to us all and could be contributing to a whole bunch of seemingly unrelated health conditions.  For more click here to read the University of Maryland article which gives you more information and makes an interesting read.

I must admit I’m seeing more and more patients with immune diseases who, along with their doctor, have no idea of what could be causing it.  My initial recommendation is to stop all gluten, as 80% of our immune system is in our gut and you need to rest it, so it can begin to heal, regardless of which body system is being attacked.  If you think you could be having problems with gluten, your gut, your immune system or whatever, please feel free to give me a call to discuss what’s going on for you.