How to Fight Against Autoimmune Diseases through Hormonal Balance
Updated: Jun 15, 2020
Having someone to fight for you and protect you is great; but what happens if that same protector suddenly turned on you and started attacking you? Immune system has been on of the greatest natural defense of human beings. Because of it, a lot of diseases and infections could be kept at bay; but what happens when this immune system fails? There are quite a number of things that could transpire, but having an autoimmune disease is one of the apparent immune system abnormalities. Autoimmunity could mean either abnormally low or over activity in one’s immune system. However, there is one thing that remains prevalent in either of the two: hormonal imbalance. In fact, autoimmune diseases relate to hormonal imbalance because of its cause and correction.
Not a lot of people may be well familiar with autoimmune diseases but many do know the one thing that can cause it—hormones. While having a family history of autoimmune diseases could also be factor in acquiring one yourself, various studies show that hormones play a great role in developing autoimmune diseases as well. If all the hormones in the body communicate well with each other, the body enjoys “hormonal homeostasis” and functions properly in all aspects—from mood to energy, weight, and even immune system. If any of these hormones under or over produces, however, the entire body is whacked out of balance. Consequently, if there’s an imbalance in the body, the immune system could also malfunction and mistake the imbalanced hormones to be foreign, which results to autoimmunity. (Chakraborty, 2018) When autoimmunity is developed, it mistakes body cells for foreign bodies and attacks them, causing self-destructing diseases such as Type 1 Diabetes and Psoriasis. Hence, having an imbalance with one’s hormones—excessive or deficient estrogen, thyroid, cortisol, etc.—could not only result to moodiness and other bodily pain but trigger autoimmunity too.
On the flip side, maintaining balanced hormones and adapting a lifestyle that helps reduce imbalances will definitely also help reduce the risk of acquiring an autoimmune disease. While there are various major triggers to autoimmunity, all these could be addressed by adapting a healthy lifestyle that prioritizes the balancing of hormones. When the lifestyle, made up of one’s daily routine and diet, removes all possible external triggers for autoimmunity, the hormones would naturally line up properly alongside them. Healthy practices such as removing sugar and gluten-filled food from your diet, reducing alcohol and coffee intake, eating more organic vegetables, getting regular exercise and avoiding toxicants to name a few could significantly help contribute to one’s hormonal homeostasis. (Kippola, 2020)
The human body is intricately designed and is undoubtedly a complicated and complex structure. The millions of cells found in one human operate in systems, and systems within larger systems. If any of those inner structures fall apart, the rest of them are inevitably affected, which is the case with hormonal imbalances and autoimmunity. It is crucial to maintain healthy lifestyle that would not only foster hormonal homeostasis but also keep a person from autoimmunity.
Bibliography:
Chakraborty, S. (2018, August 22). How does estrogen affect auto-immune conditions? Massive Science. https://massivesci.com/articles/estrogen-immune-conditions/.
WebMD. (2018, August 14). Autoimmune Diseases: What Are They? Who Gets Them? WebMD. https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/autoimmune-diseases.
Transendautoimmune, P. K. (2020, January 15). Top 6 Autoimmune Triggers: Hormonal Imbalance. Palmer Kippola. https://palmerkippola.com/hormones/balance-your-hormones-to-beat-autoimmune/.
Desai, M. K., & Brinton, R. D. (2019, April 29). Autoimmune Disease in Women: Endocrine Transition and Risk Across the Lifespan. Frontiers in endocrinology. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6501433/.