Autoimmune disease affects up to 5-10 percent of Indian population according to the Indian Autoimmune Related Diseases Association (AARDA). An autoimmune disease develops when your immune system, which defends your body against disease, decides your healthy cells are foreign. As a result, your immune system attacks healthy cells. Depending on the type, an autoimmune disease can affect one or many different types of body tissue. It can also cause abnormal organ growth and changes in organ function.
There are as many as 80 types of autoimmune diseases. Many of them have similar symptoms, which makes them very difficult to diagnose. It’s also possible to have more than one at the same time. Autoimmune diseases usually fluctuate between periods of remission (little or no symptoms) and flare-ups (worsening symptoms). Currently, treatment for autoimmune diseases focuses on relieving symptoms because there is no curative therapy.
Autoimmune diseases often run in families, and 75 percent of those affected are women.
What Are Some of the Most Common Autoimmune Diseases?
The following are some of the more common autoimmune diseases:
•Rheumatoid Arthritis: inflammation of joints and surrounding tissues
•Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: affects skin, joints, kidneys, brain, and other organs
•Celiac Sprue Disease: a reaction to gluten (found in wheat, rye, and barley) that causes damage to the lining of the small intestine
•Pernicious Anemia: decrease in red blood cells caused by inability to absorb vitamin B-12
•Vitiligo: white patches on the skin caused by loss of pigment
•Scleroderma: a connective tissue disease that causes changes in skin, blood vessels, muscles, and internal organs
•Psoriasis: a skin condition that causes redness and irritation as well as thick, flaky, silver-white patches
•Inflammatory Bowel Diseases: a group of inflammatory diseases of the colon and small intestine
•Hashimoto’s Disease: inflammation of the thyroid gland
•Addison’s Disease: adrenal hormone insufficiency
•Graves’ Disease: overactive thyroid gland
•Reactive Arthritis: inflammation of joints, urethra, and eyes; may cause sores on the skin and mucus membranes
•Sjögren’s Syndrome: destroys the glands that produce tears and saliva causing dry eyes and mouth; may affect kidneys and lungs
•Type 1 Diabetes: destruction of insulin producing cells in the pancreas
What Causes the Immune System to Attack Healthy Cells?
The cause of autoimmune disease is unknown. There are many theories about what triggers autoimmune diseases, including:
•BACTERIA OR VIRUS
•CHEMICAL IRRITANTS
•DRUGS
•ENVIRONMENTAL IRRITANTS
•STRONG LONG LASTING EMOTIONS.
Also, you may be more susceptible to developing an autoimmune disease if you have a family member with one.
What Are the Symptoms of an Autoimmune Disease?
Because there are so many different types of autoimmune disease, the symptoms vary. However, common symptoms are fatigue, fever, and general malaise (feeling ill). Symptoms worsen during flare-ups and lessen during remission.
Autoimmune diseases affect many parts of the body. The most common organs and tissue affected are:
•BLOOD VESSELS
•CONNECTIVE TISSUE
•ENDOCRINE GLANDS
•JOINTS
•MUSCLES
•RED BLOOD CELLS
•SKIN
How Are Autoimmune Diseases Diagnosed?
Ordinarily, your immune system produces antibodies (proteins that recognize and destroy specific substances) against harmful invaders in your body. These invaders include:
•BACTERIA
•FUNGI
•PARASITES
•VIRUSES
When you have an autoimmune disease, your body produces antibodies against some of your own tissues. Diagnosing an autoimmune disease involves identifying the antibodies your body is producing.
The following tests are used to diagnose an autoimmune disease:
•Autoantibody Tests: any of several tests that look for specific antibodies to your own tissues
•Antinuclear Antibody Tests: a type of autoantibody test that looks for antinuclear antibodies, which attack the nuclei of cells in your body
•Complete Blood Count: measures the numbers of red and white cells in your blood; when your immune system is actively fighting something, these numbers will vary from the normal
•C-reactive Protein (CRP): elevated CRP is an indication of inflammation throughout your body
•Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate: this test indirectly measures how much inflammation is in your body
What Miasms it covers????
Very little psora in the beginning when the sensitive person is exposed to unfavourable environment like strong husband, dominating in laws, strong and pushy parents, death of loved ones etc.
The disease quickly shifts to tubercular miasm where now there is aberrant immune response, here there is beginning of excessive production of immune complexes due to wrongly identifying body tissues as foreign material producing swelling, inflammation etc.This is followed by sycotic phase where there is metastasis of immune complexes to different distant organs followed by oedema, swelling etc. as the disease progresses there is development of rupture of soft tissues and connective tissues like tendon, deformity of connective tissues like joints, formation of ulcers etc., this is now the syphilitic phase.
CASE
Reactive arthritis
A young college going girl of 24 years comes to me with a complaint of reactive arthritis she has joint pains with burning in urethra and eyes. These areas become swollen and inflamed. she was treated with anibiotics,painkillers,steroids and other immunosuppressant’s without long lasting relief.
The problem started when she had an unprotected sex with her boyfriend in Goa during a college trip and after that she panicked and guilt complex and later conflicts with her boy-friend and finally they broke up. The complained first appeared one month after the breakup.
You may have the following tests:
HLA-B27 antigen positiveX-rays knee, ankle, wrist, hand joint: inflammatory changesCRP: 45ESR: 86Urinalysis epithelial cells posivite, pus cells 10
Symptoms/ Rubrics
• EXTREMITIES – CRAMPS – Hands
• EXTREMITIES – INFLAMMATION – Joints
• EXTREMITIES – PAIN – Joints – bending agg.
• EXTREMITIES – PAIN – Joints – fever; during
•EXTREMITIES – PAIN – Joints – morning
• EXTREMITIES – PAIN – Joints – night
• EXTREMITIES – PAIN – Joints – sore
• EXTREMITIES – PAIN – Joints – touch agg. (three marks)
• EXTREMITIES – PAIN – Joints – weather – cold – agg.
• EXTREMITIES – PAIN – Joints – weather – cold – wet – agg.
• EXTREMITIES – PAIN – Wrists – sore
• EXTREMITIES – STIFFNESS
• EXTREMITIES – STIFFNESS – Joints
Her generals and mental symptoms were:
• MIND – AILMENTS FROM – love; disappointed
• MIND – DELUSIONS – crime – committed a crime; he had
• MIND – FEAR – high places, of
• MIND – TRAVELLING – desire for
• FEMALE GENITALIA/SEX – MENSES – frequent; too
• FEMALE GENITALIA/SEX – MENSES – offensive
• FEMALE GENITALIA/SEX – MENSES – staining
• CHEST – PERSPIRATION – Axillae
• DREAMS – DEAD; of the
• GENERALS – FOOD and DRINKS – sour food, acids – desire
Based on local symptoms Skalol 3c,12c,30c every 3 hourly after reducing painkillers and steroids gradually over three weeks.
When acute symptoms were better by more than 70% ESR showed 35 mm per hour,CRP: 17. I started her constitutional medicine Ignatia 200c 3 doses per week and gradually increasing to 1M,10M.and finally placebo in less than six months her arthritis was totally cured.
I use Skalol in many patients on following indication
Description
Salicylate of Phenol.
Characteristics:
Salolum was primarily used as an anti-rheumatic, especially in the treatment of acute cases.
It was also used by me as an antipyretic, in auto immune disease (3c or 12c).
It has also has been used for acute diarrhoea, dysentery, cholera, and other diseases where intestinal asepsis is indicated.
Rheumatic pains in joints with soreness and stiffness were marked, especially pain and soreness in the buttocks, knees, and wrists.
The joints felt stiff, “as if they wanted oiling.” (important symptom in proving) all rheumatic symptoms are worse walking. , Sitting on hard stool (pain in buttocks). By touch., agg. Evening. agg. Ascending stairs.,
Extremities sensitive to touch.
Pain in shoulder. esp. right(frozen shoulder)
Rheumatism of wrist, cramps in hand (writer’s cramp)
Cannot carry heavy objects in hand without hurting.
Source: The Homoeopathic Heritage, November 2015
