FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE BLOG
Includes over 800 monographs reporting on emerging studies in the medical and scientific literature of practical clinical importance, easily searched for content.
Atrial fibrillation caused by autoimmunity
Autoimmunity can cause or contribute to atrial fibulation (afib) and other cardiac arrhythmias, and should be included for investigation and treatment in case management.
Maternal autoimmunity associated with ADHD in children
The biology of autoimmunity during pregnancy can have numerous consequences for the health of both mother and offspring; these include such conditions as childhood tics and OCD, autism, congenital heart block; infertility, miscarriage and preterm birth; placental abruption, numerous consequences of antithyroid antibodies, etc.
Induction of autoimmunity by infection
Autoimmune conditions are on the rise. They can be triggered by infection. We are very likely too see an even steeper increase in autoimmune symptoms in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gut microbiome, SCFAs, mood disorders, ketogenic diet and seizures
SCFA (short-chain fatty acid) production by the gut microbiome has a large effect on autoimmunity, brain inflammation, neuropsychiatric disorders and seizures by Immune system modulation; and this positive effect can be damaged by antibiotics.
Osteoarthritis: auto-inflammation, IL-17 and the microbiome
Osteoarthritis is an autoinflammatory condition characterized by a more aggressive inflammatory response to stressed or damaged tissue, with a subset exhibiting high IL-17 activity, a hallmark of autoimmunity. This may be ameliorated by regulating the autoinflammatory response through manipulation of the gut microbiome.
Pain chronic after injury, surgery due to neuroinflammation
"...the transition from acute physiological pain to persistent pain involves low-grade inflammation in the central nervous system (CNS), glial dysfunction and subsequently an imbalance in the neuron–glial interaction that causes enhanced and prolonged pain transmission."
Vitamin D necessary for mucosal barrier function
""Vitamin D, an important modulator of the immune system, has been shown to protect mucosal barrier homeostasis..."
Breast cancer, autoantibodies and autoimmune inflammation
"In this study, detection of autoantibodies in the sera from practically all women with breast cancer provides compelling evidence that an antigen-driven autoantibody response takes place in BC."
Fatigue: inflammation and autoimmunity
Severe fatigue, associated with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) or another disorder, has as a core underlying cause chronic inflammation...there are sufficient robust multiple lines of evidence to support the proposition that the severe fatigue and profound disability experienced by people with the neurodegenerative, neuro-immune and autoimmune diseases discussed here is largely driven by peripheral immune activation and systemic inflammation either directly or indirectly by inducing mitochondrial damage.
Hyperexcitable brain syndrome and gluten
Hyperexcitable brain, with potentially severe consequences, is recognized as among the gluten-related autoiimmune neurological disorders... Practitioners should not underestimate the potential severity of gluten-associated neuroinflammation.
Neuropsychiatric illness, autoimmunity and the role of microbes
Neuropsychiatric illness often involves brain inflammation for which there may be an autoimmune origin. The authors of a paper* recently published in Current Opinion in Rheumatology set out to..."illustrate how microbes might participate in the pathogenesis of neuropsychiatric illness by triggering the production of autoantibodies that bind to brain targets."
Prof. Y. Shoenfeld talks about ASIA: autoimmune syndrome induced by vaccine adjuvants
Professor Yehuda Shoenfeld of the Zabludowicz Center for Autoimmune Diseases, Tel-Aviv University talks on ASIA—autoimmune sydrome induced by adjuvants (used to magnify the immune response to vaccines). He does not argue against the immense benefits of vaccines, but explains briefly why clinicians must be aware of the potential for autoimmune complications in a percentage of the population that may be predisposed. Morever, he discusses how the process in ASIA is relevant also for the loss of tolerance involved in conditions such as environmental and chemical sensitivity, chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), fibromyalgia, narcolepsy, sick building syndrome, reactions to silicon implants, Gulf War syndrome and others.
Prostate enlargement is promoted by autoimmune inflammation
Prostate enlargement—benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH)—is fundamentally an inflammatory process that can undergo conversion to malignancy and emerge as prostate cancer. The authors of a study just published in The Journal of Urology offer important evidence that autoimmune phenomena drive prostate inflammation and enlargement.
Preeclampsia, an autoimmune disease
Preeclampsia throws into turmoil 5% to 8% of pregnancies worldwide with potentially terrible consequences. Clinicians who participate in the management of pregnancy should appreciate the evidence revealing that preeclampsia is driven by autoimmunity.
Acute gastrointestinal infection can turn on autoimmune disorders
Autoimmune disorders can be promoted by a variety of factors that must be considered in case management.Acute gastrointestinal infection—such as a food-borne illness or viral gastroenteritis—can cause the immune system to lose tolerance for commensal bacteria (the ones that normally live in the intestines), contributing to the development of autoimmune disorders.
Rheumatoid arthritis is predicted by mildly increased rheumatoid factor: implications for autoimmunity
Rheumatoid arthritis is predicted by mildly increased rheumatoid factor: autoimmunity can brew for years before it becomes clinically evident.
Schizophrenia, brain inflammation and depression
Schizophrenia shares underlying processes of brain inflammation in common with depression that are important for treatment.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome treated as an immunological disorder
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome treated as an immunological disorder
How the Microbiome causes Autoimmune Dysfunction
How the Microbiome causes Autoimmune Dysfunction