Page 1 - Why Are Autoimmune Diseases So Common

Why is Autoimmune Disease so Common?

Submitted by the International Autoimmune Institute & Bingham Memorial Center for
Functional Medicine

Autoimmune disease is recognized as a major health crisis in the United States. Today, 50
million Americans—80 percent of whom are women—suffer one or more autoimmune
conditions. Thirty years ago, only one in 400 people developed an autoimmune disease. Today,
one in 12 Americans—one in nine women—have an autoimmune disease. More women are
diagnosed each year with an autoimmune disease than breast cancer and cardiovascular disease
combined.

David J. Bilstrom, MD—the Director of the International Autoimmune Institute & Bingham
Memorial Center for Functional Medicine—sheds some light on why autoimmune disease is so
prevalent in today’s society and how “to get to the gut” of what’s really going on.

What is an autoimmune disease?
It’s a condition in which the immune system mistakenly attacks the body’s own tissue. Some of
the more common conditions include rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, psoriasis,
Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, type 1 diabetes, and ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease, but the
National Institutes of Health estimates there are more than 100 types of autoimmune diseases.

Why do autoimmune diseases develop?
“Basically, one could think of all autoimmune diseases as just one disease and refer to it as
‘polyautoimmunity,’” says Dr. Bilstrom. “Ideally, the immune system should wait until
something—that is not us—tries to get into the body and creates problems, like a virus, bacteria,
or a cell that has become cancerous. Unfortunately, with autoimmune disease, the body becomes
confused and starts attacking—us—instead,” says Dr. Bilstrom.

The part of the body the immune system attacks is how an autoimmune disease is defined: the
thyroid (Hashimoto’s thyroiditis), the joints (rheumatoid arthritis), the brain (multiple sclerosis),
or the intestines (ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease). They’re all really the same, except the
immune system is simply attacking different body parts.

“If someone develops one autoimmune disease they are much more likely to develop a second,
third, or fourth,” says Dr. Bilstrom. “It’s not that someone has a new or unique autoimmune
disease, it’s just that the immune system starts attacking different areas of the body.”

How do people get autoimmune disease?
“The immune system is a beautiful example of how the body loves balance—it has a sweet spot
right in the middle,” says Dr. Bilstrom. “And, just like most areas of life, you don’t want to be
too high or too low—you want to be just right.”

If someone loses the “set point” in the middle, the immune system starts moving away from it,
both up and down at the same time.