Chronic Inflammation the Single Cause of Most Disease
Startling Facts:
Antibiotic-resistant superbugs kill more than 23,000 per year.
Autoimmune diseases affect 8% of the population and are the third leading cause of death.
Silent inflammation affects up to 75% of all Americans.
“By 2050 . . . antibiotic-resistant bacteria could kill an estimated 10 million people each year. Shockingly, this would surpass even cancer.”
—Julia Calderone
Let’s imagine that your other five Systems have been working correctly up to this point:
Your Structural System is supported with real food.
Your Digestive System breaks food down into usable nutrients.
Your Delivery System picks up the nutrients and delivers them to the cells.
Your Energy System (mitochondria) turns the nutrients into energy.
Your Communication System ensures the proper functioning of each System with hormones, nerves, and neurotransmitters.
Your Defense System protects all these Systems.
Defense System Overview
Your body is constantly under assault from enemies outside and inside. Fortunately, a whole army waits in reserve for the signal to attack these foreign invaders and heal injured tissue. This army includes mast cells, histamines, cytokines, inflammatory molecules, macrophages, neutrophils, and lymphocytes. Without the Defense System to thwart hostile invaders, you would die in a few days.
Like most things in life, the key to proper Defense System function is balance. If the Defense System is underactive, you will likely get colds, ear infections, bronchitis, and other infections. If this System is overactive, you are more susceptible to allergies, asthma, food sensitivities, and autoimmune disease.
A malfunction in any of the 7 Systems—including the Defense System—can sabotage weight-loss efforts. When this System works optimally, it does a fantastic job of defending the body from infection, inflammation, and deadly diseases. Besides these benefits, weight loss is much easier.
7 Signs that your Defense System is Working Against You:
Weight gain
Frequent colds or flu
3. Chronic pain, joint pain with exercise, swollen joints, and inflammation
4. Skin problems
Infections (sinus, urinary tract, athlete’s foot)
Periodontal disease
Frequent anti-inflammatory or antibiotic use
Meet Sharon, who came to see Dr. Pat with a Defense System problem.
Sharon had developed severe pain and swelling in her joints. She had so much discomfort she slept in a chair. This position at night only compounded her problems. How much sleep can you get while sitting in a chair? The pain in her feet was so bad that she could not wear shoes. Understandably, walking was difficult. Her increasing weight made matters worse.
She also had pain in her hands, making it challenging to use her computer mouse. She got sick frequently. Sharon feared losing her job as an accountant.
Sharon’s medical doctor had run some tests and sent her to a rheumatologist for a further workup. The rheumatologist diagnosed her with rheumatoid arthritis. This ‘incurable,’ disabling autoimmune disease is caused by an overactive Defense System attacking the joints. Her doctor prescribed a powerful drug to suppress her Defense System.
Once she got home, she went online and looked at the side effects of this drug. Immediately, she felt discouraged. On her return visit to the rheumatologist, she asked him, “Can I help this problem by changing my lifestyle?” His prompt reply was, “No, you must take the drug.”
After hearing her history, I concluded that we should focus our initial treatment on her Defense System. It was working against her. I gave her a list of additional lab tests, which included evaluating her inflammation level, liver function, and vitamin D.
Vitamin D deficiency is often connected with autoimmune diseases and is a significant factor in rheumatoid arthritis. The lab test confirmed the battle that was going on inside her. Her vitamin D level was 6 ng/ml; it should have been 70! Her other tests showed high inflammation and signs of fatty liver disease.
Sharon followed the suggestions given to her and implemented the 7 Systems Plan Course information. Her progress was slow but consistent, and in six months, all signs of rheumatoid arthritis had disappeared. She was not only wearing shoes again, but she was jogging in those shoes. She hadn’t done that in years. The pain in her hands disappeared, and she lost 65 pounds. Her Defense System was no longer attacking her body. Instead, it was working for her.
Sharon’s thank you note captured her gratitude. She wrote, “I’m convinced you can make a difference in your health by the choices you make. Thank you, I am so grateful for your guidance!”
Why Your Defense System Works Against You
When the Defense System is activated, it sets an inflammatory process in motion. Acute inflammation is the Defense System’s response to localized injury or attack. Think of it as a fire that destroys the enemy and begins the healing process.
Here’s a quick example of an injury and the body’s response.
Acute Inflammation: The Fire Within
Imagine getting a splinter of wood in your finger. As the wood breaks the skin, it destroys cells and damages the skin barrier, allowing bacteria into the body. Pain from sensory nerves in your finger alerts you to this threat. Your Defense System is now activated, and the mast cells (white blood cells) at the site release histamines and cytokines, sending a signal for help throughout the body. This distress call prompts the production of inflammatory molecules that turn on your body’s inflammation process (fire) to help correct the problem.
The blood vessels allow other immune cells into the injured area (causing swelling) to defend against foreign material. The fire continues as macrophages attack the bacteria and damaged cells, releasing defensive chemicals. Your body’s neutrophils are drawn to the wound, engulfing and destroying the bacteria and damaged tissue. Lymphocytes also join the battle and help in the cleanup. Platelets and other substances form clots to close the wound and stop the bleeding.
As the bacteria and damaged tissue are eliminated, cells from your body signal that the fire is no longer needed, and the process ends. This resolution is critical. The complicated defense, acute inflammation, and resolution processes are necessary for survival.
Chronic Inflammation: The Fire Keeps Burning
For many people today, the feverish scenario described above never stops. The Defense System does not shut down. When acute inflammation becomes chronic, your Defense System works against you. Chronic inflammation may be the strongest predictor of disease development. It is linked to heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and many more illnesses.
Unfortunately, foreign invaders aren’t the only ones that can trigger this inflammatory response in the body. The average American lifestyle (diet high in sugar and bad fats, vitamin deficiencies, lack of exercise, excess body fat, poorly functioning GI tract, toxins, high blood pressure, high insulin, stress, periodontal disease, and some drugs) makes it easier for the body to get stuck in this chronically inflamed state.
It is crucial to address the cause and fix the System by providing the nutrients necessary to resolve inflammation. If the Defense System is not working correctly, you may experience weight gain, chronic disease at a young age, and even an early death. You must give your body what it needs to put out the fire.
Autoimmune Diseases
When the Defense System is active for too long, it can start attacking the body. This reversal is known as autoimmune disease, affecting approximately 24 million Americans, 80% women. An estimated less than one-third of those have it diagnosed, and the rates are increasing dramatically.
Autoimmune diseases are now the third leading cause of morbidity and mortality (after heart disease and cancer). There are over 80 different types. The more common ones are rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, Graves’ disease, psoriasis, multiple sclerosis, Crohn’s disease, colitis, type 1 diabetes, and celiac disease.
While these conditions can have a genetic component, we now suspect that 70% of the cause involves the environment, diet, and lifestyle. Many doctors do not know that the Defense System can be fixed, so they consider autoimmune diseases incurable. Healthcare costs for autoimmune diseases are two times higher than cancer treatment.
Stay tuned for more information on optimizing the function of your Defense System in the coming weeks.
For your health,
Dr. Pat
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