Dr. Sarah Myhill

www.drmyhill.co.uk

Autoimmunity is partly caused by a tendency for the immune system to be overactive. Conventional medicine uses steroids and immunosuppressives to suppress this useless inflammation. But suppressing the immune system is a risky business, possibly making patients more susceptible in the long term to infections and cancer.

The environmental approach can be used to treat autoimmunity in the following ways:

(1) Diet. Broadly speaking, the omega 3 and 6 fats feed into hormone and prostaglandin pathways, which tend to suppress inflammation so take evening primrose oil (4 capsules daily) cod liver oil (4 capsules daily - must be filtered oil. Cod liver oil needs filtering to remove pesticides, check with your supplier. BioCare oil is filtered). Eat plenty of oily fish. Avoid animal fats and dairy products (which tend to increase inflammation).

(2) Vitamin D is thought to have immune modulating properties. Inactive vitamin D is present in fish oil but can also be made in the skin through the action of sunshine on a cholesterol compound. Inactive vitamin D is then activated by the liver and kidneys. Vitamin D appears to be of definite importance in preventing and treating multiple sclerosis. The best source of vitamin D is sunshine - something which as a nation we seriously lack. See vitamin D and sunshine in nutrtrional section.

(3) Detox. Many chemicals are immnue adjuvants and 'turn on' the immune system. Do a good chemical clean up and detox regime.

(4) Replace Minerals. Any mineral deficiency may dysregulate the immune system. Consider tests for micronutrients in tests - Disease prevention screening. This also covers essential fatty acids.

(5) Treat Allergies. Some autoimmune diseases are caused by allergies such as rheumatoid arthritis. For any illness accompanied by PIMS (psychological, irritable bowel, migraine syndrome) type symptoms or muscle/joint pain or fatigue a Stone Age (elimination) diet should be tried. 50% of rheumatoid arthritis patients will improve on this diet. I suspect many autoimmune kidney disorders are due to immune complexes getting stuck in the glomeruli, made up of food antigens and antibodies.

(6) Molecular mimicry. This may be involved in ankylosing spondylitis and rheumatoid arthritis.

Dr. Myhill recommends Serum trace elements and Red cell magnesium testing.

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