In recent decades autoimmune diseases are on the rise, perhaps due to the pollution of our environment.
Solvents, plastics, additives or processed foods are loaded with unnatural molecules to which our immune system reacts and can become exhausted and lose its efficiency.
What are autoimmune diseases?
Autoimmune diseases are those in which our immune system makes mistakes when it comes to distinguishing the self from the foreign, discharging a battery of toxic molecules called auto-antibodies that affect our own cells, deteriorating the organs they constitute.
There are individuals who are more sensitive to their environment and are more prone to suffer from this type of disease, generally more frequent in women than in men.
Sometimes there are families with susceptibility to some of these pathologies because they share a more deficient immune system.
What is the immune system?
During birth we are contaminated with microorganisms from the birth canal that begin to colonize the digestive system, constituting the microbiota, good bacteria that maintain the integrity of our mucous membranes.
Later, life exposes us to potentially toxic unnatural substances and other microorganisms that enter us.
They would be a threat to our health if we did not have the immune system, an «army» of our own cells that help us to stop toxins coming from outside.
These cells talk to each other, coordinate and agree as a real team whose function is to identify what is foreign and reject it.
The immune system extends throughout our organs.
White blood cells (leukocytes) navigate through our blood and lymph, constantly patrolling to detect and destroy structures that are considered harmful.
Types of autoimmune diseases
Among the most common autoimmune diseases are rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, ankylosing spondylitis, lupus erythematosus and Sjögren’s syndrome.
-
-
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Multiple sclerosis
- Ankylosing spondylitis
- Lupus erythematosus
- Sjögren’s syndrome
-
