When Your Body’s Army Gets Confused
What is autoimmune disease? It sounds like a complicated intimidating medical term, but we can break it down easily.
Think of your body as a magnificent, busy kingdom. Inside this kingdom, you have a powerful and loyal army: your immune system.
The Job of the Immune Army
What does this immune army do? Its job is to protect you from invaders. These invaders are the "bad guys," like germs, viruses, and bacteria—the things that try to make you sick. When they spot a bad guy, the immune army rushes out and attacks to destroy it. This is why you get better after a cold!
The immune army is fantastic at telling the difference between a bad guy and a good guy (your own healthy cells, like your skin, muscles, or joints).
The Big Mix-Up
Now, here is where the problem starts.
Sometimes, the immune army gets confused. It might be stressed, or it might just get faulty instructions. The army stops recognizing certain healthy parts of your body as "good guys."
Instead, it treats your own healthy cells like invaders! It starts attacking the very body parts it is supposed to be protecting. This confusing, friendly fire attack is what is known as an autoimmune disease.
Different Kinds of Attacks
There are many different kinds of autoimmune diseases, and they are named for the part of the body the army attacks.
If the immune army attacks the joints, it might be called Rheumatoid Arthritis.
If it attacks the thyroid gland (which controls your energy), it might be Hashimoto's or Grave’s disease.
If it attacks the lining of the gut, it might be Crohn's disease.
Remember, you can't catch an autoimmune disease like you catch a cold or the flu. It’s an internal mix-up, not a contagious germ.
Calming a Confused Army
People who have an autoimmune disease don’t have to feel captive to their confused army. Through diet, supplementation, and lifestyle choices your army can be calmed. It is possible to get the army back in the barracks and live a happy healthy life moving forward.
Talk to a practitioner familiar with lifestyle choices and how those decisions affect the health and function of your immune army.
