Life Can Be a Difficult Journey When Living with Autoimmune Diseases

It might seem silly that a skin disease like psoriasis could be caused by the same dysfunction as a blood-sugar disease like diabetes, but both join some hundred other medical conditions related to autoimmune disease. For people living with an autoimmune disease, life can be a difficult journey. It is important to learn how to ride the waves of good days as well as bad days with minimal disruption to your life. Making crucial lifestyle changes may help alleviate the severity of many of the symptoms. Moreover, you need to identify factors that trigger flare-ups and avoid those things.

Autoimmune diseases are a leading cause of death and disability in America. The body parts that are affected depend on the type of autoimmune disorder, such as:

• Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) - Although there are many types of arthritis and related diseases, the most common type is rheumatoid arthritis, where an autoimmune malfunction results in the degradation of healthy joint tissue. Even in people who have a normal body mass index, the proportion of fat compared to lean mass is often higher.
• Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA) - Although psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis may show up at different times, both disorders are caused by immune system dysfunction and may share environmental triggers. According to the National Psoriasis Foundation, dietary changes can help adults manage and reduce the severity of both forms of the disease.
• Lupus - Lupus is an autoimmune disorder that causes inflammation throughout your body, including in your joints, tendons and skin, as well as your blood vessels and organs. If you believe you could have lupus, your primary care physician or dermatologist can determine the need for further evaluation and treatment.
• Graves' Disease - Also called Basedow's disease, Graves' disease is an immune system disorder of the butterfly-shaped thyroid gland located in the front of the throat. People with Graves' disease may be sensitive to iodine and eating foods that have high amounts or taking iodine supplements may worsen hyperthyroidism.
• Hashimoto's Disease - Thyroid hormones control how your body uses energy and affect every major organ in the body including both the heart and brain. Inflammation from Hashimoto's disease typically leads to an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism). The autoimmune disease is most often affects middle-aged women but can occur in women of all ages as well as men and children.
• Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) - The most common types of inflammatory bowel diseases are Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis. Both cause identifiable patterns of inflammation in the digestive tract. Changes in the composition of the gut microbiota appear to be important environmental triggers in the onset of inflammatory bowel disease.

Research suggests there is a clear link between dietary intake and autoimmune disease as well as a pronounced need to discover which foods cause problems. Try adding green tea and turmeric to your dietary intake to dampen the autoimmune response that your body is experiencing. It can be particularly helpful for boosting brain functions. Stress impact hormone production, and hormones affect your immune system causing a vicious cycle that disrupts sleep. No single test can be used to diagnose most autoimmune diseases, which means healthcare providers will check for the inflammatory responses that these diseases are known to produce.