Autoimmune conditions are becoming more prevalent.

Under normal circumstances, the immune system protects the body against bacteria, viruses and other pathogens. Autoimmune disease is characterized by overactivity in the immune system, which leads to it attacking healthy cells and tissue in the body. The immune system can’t tell the difference between foreign invaders and your body’s own cells so it attacks both.

The type of autoimmune condition that develops depends on the type of cells or tissue that is being attacked. For example, Rheumatoid Arthritis develops when the immune system attacks healthy cells in the joints.

Not everyone has the potential to develop an autoimmune condition - it requires a combination of triggers to co-exist.

Not everyone with a family history of autoimmune conditions will develop one themselves. As the functional medicine saying goes: “Genes load the gun, and environment pulls the trigger.”

We may not be able to change genetics but with a functional medicine approach, we can address the environmental and root causes for autoimmune conditions development.

The functional medicine approach to treating autoimmune conditions is to find the trigger(s) and use personalized nutrition to put symptoms into remission.

There’s no cure for autoimmune conditions as we can’t simply “switch off” the immune system once it has become overactive. But we can reduce the severity and frequency of flare-ups with a functional medicine approach to autoimmune conditions, and in some patients these results in decades of symptom-free living.