An autoimmune disease is defined as: An illness that occurs when the body's tissues are attacked by its own immune system.
The immune system is a complex organization and is normally designed to seek and destroy invaders of the body, including infectious agents.
Common autoimmune diseases are: multiple sclerosis, lupus, Crohn's disease, type 1 diabetes, or rheumatoid arthritis.
Over the past 20 years there has been an explosion of autoimmune diseases, multiple sclerosis being one of them.
There are an estimated 23.
5 people affected by these diseases.
The Autoimmune Epidemic explores the reason for the massive increase of these diseases and what you can do to protect yourself.
The book "The Autoimmune Epidemic" states, there is a common belief that genetics has much to do with all these diseases.
In this book the environment is painted as the culprit.
The chemicals and environmental pollutants that we are exposed to have been on the rise over the past thirty years.
The increase in autoimmune diseases can't be explained by genetics.
There must be some other explanation.
"It's important to read labels and carefully choose foods that are chemical and additive free, and if you choose to use dietary supplements, ask your doctor to corroborate that they are from a reputable source.
Several past cluster outbreaks of autoimmune disease still haunt scientists because of the rapid and insidious way in which thousands of individuals were stuck ill with autoimmune reactions seemingly overnight, not from contact with unseen chemicals but from impurities in the processed food products, drugs, and supplements they consumed" This above comment from the author I completely agree with, we are exposed to many toxins, preservatives, and pollutants.
But my question to all of you is "how far do we take this?" I find it unrealistic to drive myself crazy trying to protect myself from the world we live in.
Yes, let's use common sense and not go out and expose ourselves to a toxic environment but reality is we have toxins and pollutants all around us each and every day.
The food we consume and the products that we surround ourselves with are hard to avoid.
We live in a fast paced society that wants everything immediately at our disposal.
The Autoimmune Epidemic states that new carpets, new cars give off chemicals.
We want ours foods packaged, our carpets stain free, our cars new.
Are we taking risks with each of these supposed improvements in our society? This book explains clearly yes this is the answer.
I found myself feeling hopeless while reading the beginning of this book.
Are we supposed to climb into a cave somewhere and shun all modern conveniences? In the end The Autoimmune Epidemic gives us answers on how to reduce our exposure and hopefully take us back to health.
The main thing is to have awareness of our environment.
We choose what foods to eat and products to buy.
She makes the case for activism on our part.
If we tell our government no, and use our wallets to let companies know that we want change all of us can make a difference.
This book will challenge the idea that we have no control over our present life and health.
I would suggest anyone having MS should read it.
Make yourself aware of what you can improve in your life and not worry about crawling into a bubble to not expose yourself to anything.
If we all work together hopefully we can put an end to this terrible epidemic of autoimmune diseases.
I hope that my children will see a day when this trend is reversed and sanity is brought back.
This book is a start to that process.