Healing Autoimmune Conditions with Chinese Medicine

Autoimmune disorders have become one of the most common and persistent disorders in the modern world, frustrating the medical system with an often mysterious onset and difficult to resolve symptoms. With limited curative treatment routes within the allopathic medical model many people continue to turn to traditional medical systems for answers when it comes to their autoimmune diagnosis.

Understanding Autoimmune Conditions with Chinese medicine

Autoimmune conditions are a disease pattern in which the immune system begin to manufacture antibodies against a component of the body which is not pathological. In the case of type I diabetes antibodies are produces against the cells of the pancreas; in multiple sclerosis antibodies are produced against the myelin cells. The immune system normally does this as part of a response to a pathogenic factor which has become associated with the tissues in question. For example, if a virus enters the body and meets a well functioning immune system, the body produces antibodies against this pathogen and systematically destroys it upon contact. With viral antibodies in circulation, any virus which remains “out in the open” so-to-speak, will be destroyed; viral material, however, which is able to burrow into somatic tissues often finds refuge from the immune response, lodging quietly amongst cells which are normally not subject to the search and destroy might of the T cells. This virus, now quietly seated within some membrane of the body’s tissues is referred to as a dormant pathogen, and it can remain so for a long time before it re-emerges, if it ever does.

This behavior is commonly seen with Herpes zoster, which presents as chicken pox upon initial infection. The body mounts a robust immune response to combat the viral load and after several days or several weeks most of the virus is destroyed. If any viral material remains in the body it has a strong habit of associating with the costal nerves close to the spine. It burrows into the tissues of the nerves and finds refuge from the antibodies seeking to destroy it. Most commonly the virus remains latent for a long time, and at some point, typically around age 80 or beyond, when the body and the immune system has weakened, the virus re-activates and now presents as a local irritant at the site of the nerve; we then call the disease shingles. Shingles features local inflammation at the site of the nerve as the immune system is mounting a response to the virus which is lodged within the nerve tissues. Although this process with Herpes zoster is not explicitly auto-immune in nature because there are not auto-antibodies involved in the disease response, the principle is the same.

In this way, autoimmune patterns are generally regarded as progressions of a latent pathogen which has lodged within a tissue of the body and now presents as an irritant to the immune system. As the immune cells identify this pathogen they may create antibodies for the pathogen as well as the tissue within which it is embedded in an effort to eradicate the foreign microbe from the body. The most common types of pathogens which contribute to these patterns are viruses (especially we know that Herpes and Epstein-Barr behave in this way), bacteria like spirochetes which causes Lyme disease and syphilis, fungi and mold, and protozoans like toxoplasma. There are a host of semi-parasitic micro-organisms which have the potential to cause low-grade latent infections in the body and to act as an irritant in this way; these are the primary drivers in most auto-immune patterns and this is what we focus on in treatment.

Through the use of anti-parasitic herbal medicine designed specifically for the treatment of these disorders as well as acupuncture as a supportive feature many auto-immune disease are treatable and curable. Don’t get stuck in a loop taking immune-suppressive medicines for the rest of your life.

Acupuncture in the treatment of Autoimmune disorders

Acupuncture has been used in the treatment of autoimmune type disorders since antiquity. The Chinese medicine classics describe one of the five channel systems as being suited to treat chronic degenerative disease progressions, this is the Divergent Channels. This channel system is used to address diseases affecting the deepest regions of the body, the bones, brain, spine, endocrine system, and marrow. Commonly treated disorders include:

Hormonal Disorders - PCOS, Cushing’s Disease, Hyperthyroidism, Hypothyroidism, Diabetes Mellitus, etc.

Rheumatic Disorders (Pain in the joints)

Viral Latency Including: Herpes Simplex (Cold Sores), Herpes Zoster (Shingles), HIV, Hepatitis, etc.

Autoimmune Conditions Including: Rheumatoid Arthritis, Psoriasis, Grave’s Disease, Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, Lupus, Sjogren’s Syndrome, Addison’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Alopecia, etc.

The purpose of the Divergent Channels is to divert pathogens away from the vital organs in order to maintain maximum function in the body and preserve health. Given the option between an acute, more severe disease progression and a chronic, more slowly developing disease progression, the body will always choose the latter. This is known as disease nemesis theory and it is seen in the case of nearly every type of disease in one way or another. From the perspective of Chinese medicine, autoimmune conditions are related to this process. The body encounters a pathogen - let’s say a virus (though the same process can occur with a bacterium, fungus, or other parasite such as the recently infamous spirochete) - and this pathogen enters into a struggle against the immune system of the body. Maybe this strain of virus is particularly strong, so the immune response progressively becomes more and more intensive in an effort to neutralize the pathogen. This will lead to the mounting of a high fever, extreme fatigue, dehydration, malaise, etc. If the body is unsuccessful in eliminating the virus and the circumstances become severe such that the organs themselves become threatened, the body may resort to a tactic which will divert this pathogenic process away from the organs and to a place in the body where it may be held in latency. Since the immune system was unsuccessful in eliminating the virus, the next best thing is to neutralize the virus by making it latent. This latency is achieved at the level of the bones/marrow, and specifically at the region of the large joints — that is the hips, sacrum, pelvis, spine, shoulders, scapulae, and cranium. These are the regions where the body may divert pathogens into a state of latency.

Now, once latency is achieved, it can be maintained for some time if the body has sufficient strength of resources to do so. If the latent pathogen becomes active to some degree, the immune system will respond to this in an effort to maintain latency, or in some cases just because the antibodies for this pathogen exist and its activation generates an immune response. Since the pathogen is being held latent at the level of the joints, the activity of the immune system expresses in this location. In the most direct sense, this is called Rheumatoid Arthritis. This immune system activity in the internal layers of the body can also cause interruption in endocrine function, which is directed in the brain. It may cause a host of symptoms and, depending on the severity, can progress into a number of full blown so-called autoimmune diseases.

The treatment for these types of diseases involves doing one of two things: Either provoking the release and complete resolution of the latent pathogenic factor utilizing a combination of acupuncture and herbal medicine, or re-establishing complete latency of the pathogenic factor so that it becomes dormant once again. These are two radically different treatment methods, utilizing opposite methods. The choice of which to follow depends on the strength of the person being treated, their age, and their willingness to follow one treatment course or another. Within the context of allopathic treatment methods, corticosteroids are often used to relieve systemic inflammation and ease symptoms in may of these disorders, especially those characterized by pain. This method re-establishes latency. Another popular treatment method is the use of immunosuppressant pharmaceuticals to relieve the symptoms. This method, though it can provide immediate relief, is the worst course to take, as it weakens the body directly and will ultimately lead to more severe disorders.

Please get in touch if you’d like to discuss any specifics with things you have going on.

Tyler