Be Well: An Alternative Approach to Treating Autoimmune Diseases

Mainstream medicine defines autoimmune disease as a chronic condition where a person’s immune system mistakenly attacks healthy cells in the body. The result is inflammation, pain, and tissue damage. You likely know someone who has an autoimmune disease like rheumatoid arthritis, Type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, lupus, or celiac disease, but there are more than 80 autoimmune conditions affecting every part of the body.

Autoimmune diseases are often characterized by cycles of worsening symptoms—also known as flares—followed by periods of remission. Depending on the autoimmune condition, medications may be prescribed to mitigate and manage symptoms and/or to prevent progression of the disease by suppressing the immune system.

If medication alone fails to manage flares or causes serious side effects, many patients seek additional therapies to complement or replace drug therapy.

Michele Renee DC, MAc, massage therapy program director and associate professor at Northwestern Health Sciences University, explains that stress is one of the biggest triggers for autoimmune flares.

Read the full article from Minneapolis.St.Paul Magazine’s Be Well online here.