Immune Imbalance

Autoimmune disease, chronic inflammation, allergies, asthma, eczema, and chronic infections are all manifestations of an immune system out of balance.  The immune system is an incredibly complex, multilayered system.  It is primarily responsible for responding to various types of infections.  It is also the primary director of inflammation. The immune system is also intimately connected to both the nervous system and the endocrine system.  

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The immune system can become

• Down-regulated, and be less successful in fighting infections.

• Up-regulated as in the case of allergies, asthma, eczema and autoimmune disease.

• Both down-regulated and up-regulated

  • Because there are many branches of the immune system, it is also quite possible for one part of the system to be over-active, while another part is under-active. 

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Immune imbalance can be caused by:

• Poor diet

  • Refined sugar can lower immune function by 50%

• A toxic exposure or a past history of exposure that has left a high "body burden" of toxins in the body

• High stress

• Poor sleep

• Dysbiosis

  • Too many of the "bad" gut bugs and not enough of the "good" gut bugs has a documented negative impact on immune balance

• Eating inflammatory foods

  • Different for everyone, but combined with dysbiosis can lead to leaky gut

• Leaky gut can cause an uptick in production of antibodies that can, in some instances cross react to our own tissues

• Low Vitamins A, C, D, Zinc (among others)

  • Each of these nutrients plays a key role in immune function and balance

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Severe dysregulation of the immune system (auto-immune disease, chronic inflammation or low immunity causing chronic infections) is often triggered by a combination of the scenarios listed above, followed by an exposure to an aggressive infection (Epstein Barr Virus, Cytomegalo Virus, MRSA or MARCONs, intestinal parasite, toxic mold, Lyme, Herpes, etc) which the body can not fight off due to the layers of disruptors present before the infection. 

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This can initially cause the immune system to go into overdrive (feeling acutely ill with aches, fever, chills, fatigue), and then parts of it to become exhausted and begin to under-function. These scenarios can also lead to chronic inflammatory states with fatigue, pain, brain fog, mood and memory issues.  As you can see, the digestive, immune, nervous and endocrine systems are interwoven.  One can not go out of balance without affecting the others.  

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