A healthy immune system looks to keep you safe from microbes and diseases. However, if you have immune dysregulation, this could result in conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), arthritis, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, or autoimmune conditions such as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, multiple sclerosis, or rheumatoid arthritis.
Research suggests that around 75% of people with autoimmune conditions may be undiagnosed, highlighting the challenges faced by our conventional healthcare system in recognising these disorders early enough to implement a preventative strategy. Taking an integrative approach can often pick up early stage autoimmunity, at least ten or twenty years before symptoms or clinical manifestations could then have a debilitating impact on quality of life.
For example, conditions like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and multiple sclerosis often have overlapping symptoms with other health issues, leading to misdiagnosis or delays in diagnosis. Overall, the true prevalence of undiagnosed autoimmune conditions can vary by specific disease and population, but it is widely acknowledged that many individuals may be living with these conditions without proper identification or treatment and our clinical observation is that we are seeing more people than ever in clinic with autoimmune concerns since the pandemic.
Our clinic works with patients who have been diagnosed with autoimmune conditions, conditions associated with immune deficiency, and others for whom illness, medication, substance abuse or other lifestyle choices have caused or contributed to their immune health issues.
Often people will have immune health issues without connecting the way they feel with this condition. If you experience any of the following symptoms it is worth considering that your immune system is not functioning as it should:
- Feeling ill, or ‘off’, all the time
- Recurrent digestive issues such as diarrhoea and nausea
- Weight loss and/or loss of appetite
- Sore throat and/or fever
- Frequent and persistent infections
- Fatigue, and feeling unrefreshed, even after a good night’s sleep
- Joint pain
- Any condition that does not fully resolve which may have an autoimmune driver. This can even include treatment-resistant depression.
The desire to find something that actually works
So, why might you be looking for help today? Maybe it is because you are searching for answers, you know something’s not right but cannot pinpoint the problem, the side-effects of your medication have become more uncomfortable, or you have not seen enough improvement and are looking for options to improve your quality of life. Patients who visit our clinic are often frustrated with one or more of the above, and the first thing we do is to explain that there is no one-size-fits-all solution, it’s about developing a tailored protocol specific to you, your symptoms, any medications you are taking and your lifestyle.
How we can help
Maintaining, improving or regaining your immune health will often require a multi-pronged strategy, with a naturopathic approach incorporating prevention, the reduction of symptoms, and causal identification and limitation. We may start with blood tests to reveal any positive markers, investigate cross-reactive foods that could be negatively impacting your system and investigate any environmental triggers. This may lead to dietary adjustments, a herbal medicine approach or hyperbaric oxygen therapy, to name just a few of the many options open to us when we define your tailored programme for you.
Click the button below and complete our booking form to arrange for an initial 15-minute consultation to determine the best way forward.
