CAN I TREAT MY AUTOIMMUNE

DISEASE NATURALLY?
One of the commonest questions that I get during a consultation are “Dr. Kar, can I
treat my ................(name of Autoimmune Condition) naturally?”My answer will
depend on what you consider to be “natural”.

HIGHLIGHTS:
• What is a natural cure

• How do I treat Autoimmune Conditions

WHAT IS A NATURAL CURE?

Do you define natural as using interventions other than prescription medicines, like
a lifestyle-first approach? If that is true, then yes, I treat Autoimmune conditions
naturally. However, I look at what is best for you. This may mean a combination of
medications as well as non-drug interventions. Mine is not an either-or-view.There
are some conditions like high blood pressure, where being on a medication may
be your best option. Is it possible that reducing or stopping medications is a
practical goal for you? Certainly!

In Functional Medicine we look at Autoimmunity as a disease that you develop

because of an interaction between the following:

• Genes

• Immune system

• “Leaky Gut”

(Intestinal permeability)

• Environmental Factors
GENES
Genes are important for autoimmune diseases and therefore you will find that many
autoimmune conditions like Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis runs in families. Like most chronic
diseases, autoimmune diseases are polygenic. What does it mean?

It means that multiple genes are involved in the disease and no single gene has a huge
impact on the condition.

What is important to remember is that genes decide a small part of your disease risk.
80-90% of your disease is decided by the environment.

DNA is NOT DESTINY!

IMMUNE SYSTEM
You develop an autoimmune disease because your immune system mistakenly attacks your
own tissue.For example, in Psoriasis your immune system attacks your skin ( and
sometimes joints too), in Rheumatoid Arthritis, your joint lining , in Hashimoto’s thyroiditis
(Hypothyroidism) your thyroid tissue and so on.

Why does this happen?

We don’t actually know, however there are several proposed mechanisms that explain
autoimmunity. Your immune system is fortunately in constant vigilance. Otherwise you
would have become the victim of every minor bug that roams around!

For example, let us assume that your immune system is mounting a response against some
synthetic chemical that you have eaten and it resembles some normal tissue in shape or
structure. In the process of destroying the invader, your normal tissue also dies as a victim
of the immune response…..much like getting injured in “friendly fire”.

"LEAKY GUT” OR GUT BARRIER DYSFUNCTION:

Dr. Allesio Fasano, who is a Harvard Paediatric Gastroenterologist, suggests that gut barrier
dysfunction must be present for you to develop an Autoimmune diseases.

Food sensitivities, stress, medications , poor sleep are some of the commonest
factors associated with leaky gut.

ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
Environmental factors decide the biggest part of your disease risk.

What are the commonest factors:

Smoking

Food preservatives

Air pollution

Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs): BPA in plastic containers, dioxins, parabens,

persistent organic pollutants. Some of these are present in your cleaning supplies,
cosmetics , baby care products.

Getting rid of your plastic food and drink containers is a good place to start.

HOW DO I TREAT AUTOIMMUNITY?

I use the acronym SEMMS

S-Sleep

E-Eat

M-Move

M-Mind-Body Interventions

S-Targeted Supplementation

S-SLEEP
Being sleep deprived increases your levels of inflammation. High inflammation is related to
worsening autoimmune symptoms. Optimal sleep duration is between 7 to 8 hours every
night.

Not just duration: Do you go to bed and wake up at fixed intervals everyday? Or do you
sleep-in during the weekends to compensate for less sleep during the week?

Recent studies in the field of circadian rhythm has shown that a disrupted sleep-wake
cycle makes you

• Gain weight

• Have higher inflammation

• Worse mood

• Higher blood sugar levels

• Higher risk for dementia

• Higher risk for heart disease and stroke

Some of you need to prioritise sleep in your daily schedule. Therefore simple techniques like
the ones listed below will help you. Many of you have trouble falling asleep because of pain.
That needs a different strategy.

Getting A Good Night’s Sleep

• No TV in bedroom. Your bedroom should be a like a bear’s cave—dark and

cool.Preferably set the room temperature to around 18 degrees Centigrade.

• Have Switch-Off-Device time (I call it the SOD-off time :-)) Set a fixed time when you
switch off all your lighted devices ….TVs, laptops, cell phones , tablets, anything that has
a backlit screen. The use of backlit devices affects your sleep quality and duration.

• Early dinner. Eating late in the evening adversely affects your metabolism and
autoimmune disease symptoms.

E-EAT
Your gut is one of the biggest immune organs in your body. Food has the biggest impact on
your gut.Therefore, eating the right food can make a huge difference to you!

Food affects your gut microbiome, which affects your autoimmune disease.

How do you figure out what to eat?

In my practice I always start with gut healing first. This means starting with eating food
that is right for you.

• Start with an Elimination Diet (Link)

• Stop all processed food, sugar and grains.

• Stop gluten (There is a difference between being off gluten and eating gluten-free food :-)

• Eat during shortened windows of time-Intermittent Fasting or Time Restricted Eating

(TRE)

M-MOVE
All of you know that exercise is good for you. But do you know that sitting continuously is
worse than smoking? Continuous sitting (in cars, offices, watching TV) even negates
the beneficial effects of exercise!

Sitting continuously makes you prone to diabetes, higher inflammation and more heart
disease, stroke and dementia.
In fact ,continuous sitting is very bad even for people who are at normal body weight!

Sitting has been called the new smoking!

Are you moving 10000 steps a day?

M-MIND-BODY INTERVENTIONS
A Mind-Body Intervention is one that elicits a Relaxation Response.

During a Relaxation Response your pulse rate, blood pressure and breathing rate are
reduced.

Studies have shown mindfulness reduces gene expression along inflammatory and
metabolic pathways.

What are the different ways to bring about Relaxation Response:

• Mindfulness

• Meditation

• Tai Chi

• Qui Gong

• Acupuncture

• Yoga

S-TARGETED SUPPLEMENTATION
Supplements are substances that you take as pills because you cannot get adequate
amounts from only food or sunlight (Vitamin D3) You supplement to bridge the gap!

Some of the common deficiencies in people from India are

Iron deficiency affects your thyroid function, makes you fatigued and prone to frequent
colds and flu.

Vitamin B12. If you are vegetarian, you are very likely to be deficient unless you are
supplementing with B12 caps or injections. Low B12 affects your mood and raises
homocysteine.

Vitamin D3: Very rarely will you have adequate vitamin D3 in blood if you are not taking
supplements. Low vitamin D3 is intimately associated with higher autoimmunity,
because D3 affects immune system function.
How much vitamin D3 should you take?

There are many factors that influence your autoimmune disease. It is different for each one
of you. I tailor the treatment to your individual situation.

You decide your health goals and then we work together to come up with an
individualised plan—Patient-participatory medicine at its best!

Wishing you the best of health!

Dr.Shabnam Das Kar, MD, FMNM

Specialist in Functional and Metabolic Medicine.

www.drkarmd.com

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