Posts Tagged ‘#autoimmune’
Lady At A Nearby Table. . .
. . . was discussing a relative’s recent birth
and commented that women shouldn’t have any more babies after 35.
I agree,
35 babies in any one family is enough.
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Autoimmune Disease
Attacks from Anywhere
It wasn’t all that long ago when most of us never heard of an autoimmune disease.
Medical science and research has identified more than 100 of these disorders that range from type 1 diabetes to multiple sclerosis, lupus, and autoimmune rheumatoid arthritis. No one knows what causes these diseases nor why anyone gets them. Many victims live with the condition for years before being diagnosed properly.
An autoimmune disease occurs when your immune system mistakenly attacks your body. For example, autoimmune hepatitis is a result of your immune system attacking your liver instead of the lurking germs and viruses. Your immune system never rests in its battle against bacteria and it somehow can turn on you, causing debilitating, and death-threatening in some cases, inflammation of joints, nerves and organs.
Recent reports indicate the problem is increasing as more than 15 percent of the population carry biomarkers of autoimmunity, a 5 percent rise over just a few decades. Medical experts attribute the increase to chronic stress in our day-to-day lives, diets loaded with processed foods, and environmental toxins, such as insecticides and pesticides in the air and food.
A healthy diet and lifestyle helps combat the onset and treatment of autoimmunity. Starting with your diet is probably the simplest and easiest first step toward insulating yourself against autoimmune attacks. The Mediterranean diet is recommended widely as a healthy weapon against autoimmune disease.
There is plenty of literature available on what comprises this anti-inflammatory list of food that calms your immune system. A quick overview includes vegetables, fruit, nuts, fish and olive oil. Foods to avoid include refined oils, processed meat, and anything with added sugar. Almost three-quarters of your immune system lives in your guts, so probiotics and live-culture foods such as yogurt are strong shields against autoimmune attackers.
A dietician can work with you to prepare a list of eat and don’t-eat items.
Regular exercise is also urged. You don’t have to sign up at a gym for daily two-hour weight-lifting sessions. A walk in the park with your dog, a bicycle ride, or some laps in the pool all work and can be enjoyable. This activity will also help avoid stress and relax. And you’ll probably sleep better, giving your body and immune system more time to repair itself.
Before adopting any regimen in your life, discuss your situation with your primary care physician.
It’s Party Time!!!
But you folks at Verena
can squeeze in your 1:30 p.m. writing class
before the festivities begin at 3 p.m.
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I can’t even count the times
I failed math at school.
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If It’s Autoimmune,
It Can Be Anything
A visit by the blahs, flu, endless fatigue, chills, sweats, and whatever is a reminder me of what has become one of medicine’s major mysteries – autoimmune disorders.
More than 100 conditions have joined the list since they were first labeled a little more than three decades ago. Among the most common are rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, type 1 diabetes, lupus and multiple sclerosis. What links these is their root cause: your immune system is battling part of you – your skin, blood vessels, joints, nerves or organs.
In my case, it’s autoimmune hepatitis and my liver is the enemy.
It all began to surface a dozen years ago while on a trip to Italy. I began feeling tired and just couldn’t shake loose of that feeling. When we got home, it took half a year of tests, MRIs, X-rays and biopsies to unearth the cause.
I learned my liver has four major stages: good, not too bad, fatty and it-has-to-be-replaced. Mine was on the cusp of fatty and the final stage. And being autoimmune hepatitis means the doctors have no idea what caused it.
Steroids were prescribed immediately. The first one had to be discarded when they conflicted with the bladder-cancer pills prescribed a couple of years later. And I’ve been told I should avoid getting sick.
I did fall victim to COVID-19 a couple of years ago but got through my quarantine suffering mostly from boredom. Not too long ago, I woke up sweating and with the chills. I felt fatigued, unsteady on my feet and had a cough that was persistent in spells. Was this COVID-19 again, or the flu, or something else?
I felt like I felt in Italy several years ago so I did what a doctor’s assistant suggested back then. I took a bottle of water out of the fridge, sipped some, turned on the television set, curled up in my big chair, and fell asleep.
“Just baby yourself and wait things out,” she said. And that worked.
I don’t know how I got sick so we’ll just have to call it the autoimmune under-the-weather syndrome.
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Mature Life Features 