Autoimmune Research

Autoimmune conditions are caused by abnormal immune system activity, both when it goes too low and when it becomes overactive. When someone suffers from overactivity, the immune system attacks and damages tissues; these are autoimmune diseases. On the flip side, immune deficiency diseases decrease the body’s ability to fight invaders, making people more vulnerable to infections.

When the immune system is healthy, it can differentiate between foreign cells and your own cells. Autoimmune diseases occur when the system mistakes a body part and healthy cells as foreign, causing damage to the tissue. Many autoimmune conditions only target only one organ, like Type 1 diabetes and the pancreas; others, like systemic lupus erythematosus, affect the whole body.

How Can FirstLine Therapy Help With Autoimmune Conditions?

There are many things people can do to change their lifestyle and diet to reduce the symptoms of autoimmune illnesses, even eliminating them entirely. FirstLine Therapy’s combination of targeted diet, exercise, and lifestyle changes can revitalize the whole inflammatory response.

By examining your diet, we can see if certain vitamins and minerals are lacking in ways that could cause or exacerbate autoimmune conditions. One of these is zinc, and as many as 35% of Canadians could lack the proper amounts of this nutrient. As Lewis Chang, Ph.D. notes in his article “Zinc Is Essential for Immune Functions,” zinc is essential for supporting “virtually every stage of an immune response when our bodies encounter pathogens (e.g., virus and bacteria) or dangers (e.g., tissue damage caused by oxidative stress or toxins).”