Page 1 - Triggers of Autoimmune Disease Adverse Childhood Events

Triggers of Autoimmune Disease: Adverse Childhood Events

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.

An autoimmune disease is 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.

David J. Bilstrom, MD—the Director of the International Autoimmune Institute & Bingham
Memorial Center for Functional Medicine—explores how adverse childhood events can
ultimately trigger an autoimmune disease later in life.

What is an adverse childhood event?
One area that the International Autoimmune Institute excels at is the focus on and treatment of
traumatic childhood events. There are events that can happen to a person when they are a child or
teenager that can drive chronic disease later in life--and specifically autoimmune disease. Some
adverse childhood events can include:

• Parent’s divorce or separation
• Substance abuse in the home
• Death of a close family member
• Verbal abuse
• Physical abuse
• Sexual abuse
• Trauma

“Studies have shown that when these events occur, they can change the physiology of the body
in ways that are only really seen decades later,” Dr. Bilstrom says. “The biggest one of all is a
childhood with sexual abuse. People who are victims of childhood sexual abuse have more than a
50 percent greater chance of developing an autoimmune disease as an adult.”

How do you treat these events?
At the International Autoimmune Institute everyone is asked to see our counselor at least once.
There are times when a patient may see the counselor only once. But, often times more than one
visit is needed.