To See Dr. Blum on The Dr. Oz Show
Easy Fixes to Boost Your Immunity, Pt 1
To See Dr. Blum on The Dr. Oz Show
Easy Fixes to Boost Your Immunity, Pt 1
Dr. Susan Blum’s book, The Immune System Recovery Plan, is now available at the Smyrna Public Library.
“With significant increases in autoimmune inflammatory diseases such as arthritis, Crohn’s, celiac and lupus, check out “The Immune System Recovery Plan” by Dr. Susan Blum…”
Read the full article, here.
“While many doctors typically treat autoimmune disorders with powerful medications that shut off parts of the immune system, Integrative Nutrition guest speaker Dr. Susan Blum offers a different guide to self-healing in her new book The Immune System Recovery Plan.”
Read the article in its entirety, here.
Discover how you can cure autoimmune diseases yourself following Dr. Susan Blum’s new book, The Immune System Recovery Plan. As Dr. Blum explains to CBS Philly, “…anybody with any concerns about their immune system can benefit from this book.”
Read the full article, here.
“Only diabetes has surpassed autoimmune disease in terms of numbers…It’s the second most chronic disease in our country.”
Dr. Blum discusses her new book, “The Immune System Recovery Program,” on air with Doug Miles. Find out what inspired her to write the book and how you can benefit from its practices.
What does Celiac Disease have in common with Multiple Sclerosis? Or, Lupus with Hashimoto’s? How about Rheumatoid Arthritis with Grave’s disease?
Well, it may surprise you to know that all of these, plus more than a hundred others*, are all related. They are all autoimmune diseases at the root, and, more shockingly, more than 23 million Americans are suffering from one or more of these chronic, sometimes fatal, conditions.
Some people may not even know they have an autoimmune disease because their conventional doctors have not been able to correctly diagnose the disorder, oftentimes prescribing medications to treat the symptoms, rather than getting to the root of the illness. As a result, many people needlessly live in pain or discomfort simply because they don’t know there are other options out there.
So, what is an autoimmune disease? Very briefly, it is when the immune system, which produces antibodies to defend the body from foreign invaders like infections, germs, etc., is not working properly and ends up attacking its own healthy cells. For detailed information, refer back to my previous blog.
Today we’ll look at a few of the more common autoimmune diseases we see every day in our practice and the symptoms associated with each one. They are: Celiac – Grave’s – Hashimoto’s – Lupus – Multiple Sclerosis (MS) – Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) – Sjögren’s Syndrome.
Celiac Disease is caused by an allergy to gluten, the protein found in wheat, barley, rye, spelt, and kamut. The villi (finger-like protrusions), that line and protect the small intestines are destroyed because the body sees the gluten as the enemy and starts to attack, but it is mistakenly attacking and destroying itself.
Grave’s Disease, named after Dr. Robert Graves 150 years ago, symptoms are caused by the over-production of the hormone thyroxine in the thyroid gland, also called hyperthyroidism.
Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, named after Dr. Hakaru Hashimoto over 100 years ago, is when the immune cells turn against the thyroid gland, attacking and irritating it, causing the gland to produce too little thyroid hormone, also called hypothyroidism, the complete opposite of hyperthyroidism (too much hormone production) as in Grave’s. The early stages of Hashimoto’s can be easily missed because the thyroid is able to function pretty well. However, if the immune attack goes undetected for too long, the thyroid can become permanently damaged, which will mean permanent hormone replacement medication. So, early detection and testing are key to reversing this disease.
Lupus, or Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), is different than the other autoimmune diseases in that the immune system attacks the DNA of every cell, making the effects widespread throughout the body. It not only affects the central nervous system, like MS, but also several organs, such as the skin, joints, kidneys, and nervous system, but it can damage any other organ as well. The disease is nine times more common in women than in men, especially those in their 20’s & 30’s.
Multiple Sclerosis(MS) affects the brain and the spinal cord, or central nervous system. When the myelin, which is the protective coating of all the nerves in your body, is damaged by the autoimmune attack, it gets damage and people experience symptoms. Largely, MS affects northern European women of child-bearing age. The most common first symptom is a central nervous system dysfunction as optic neuritis, or eye pain, that gets worse when your move your eye in any direction.
Rheumatoid Arthritis(RA) occurs when your immune cells attack your joints, causing tissue damage, inflammation, and pain in your wrists, fingers, knees, feet, ankles, and surrounding tissue. RA is a very specific form of arthritis, and it may be difficult to tell the difference between the symptoms of RA and common osteoarthritis pain that can occur with aging, or after an injury. Specific blood testing is sometimes the only way to know which kind of arthritis you have.
Sjögren’s Syndrome is an attack on the moisture-producing glands, which include the salivary glands in the mouth, and the lacrimal glands in the eyes that produce tears. Sjögren’s Syndrome can occur on its own or in conjunction with RA. 90% of patients are female.
Being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease is serious, and should be treated as such, but it does not have to be a life sentence! You can heal your immune system and free yourself of a lifetime of taking meds. While we know this is a lot of information, don’t worry, the book takes you very slowly through this process…we are here to help you!
* For a complete list of autoimmune diseases: http://www.aarda.org/research_display.php?ID=47.
Find out what exactly is Celiac Disease, and why you can get sick from gluten even if you aren’t diagnosed.
“Turns out that gluten can trigger other immune reactions and symptoms without any damage to the small intestine, thus you can test negative for celiac, but still be gluten intolerant.”
Read more to find out what you can do at home to detox, here: www.mindbodygreen.com.
At Blum Center for Health, we’ve noticed that our adult patients tend to eat less and less protein as they get older. Some people lose their taste for it, while others find it too hard to digest animal meat. And most people aren’t as familiar with eating vegetarian protein like beans, nuts, and seeds. But protein in the diet is crucial. It’s broken down into amino acids that are critical for good immune function, among other things. Plus, protein will help you feel full, keep you from getting hungry and is a cornerstone to all weight loss programs. A breakfast smoothie is a great way to make sure you get the protein you need.
When your body is trying to tell you something—for example, that you’re skimping on critical vitamins—it may go to some strange lengths. “With today’s diet of processed foods, it’s easy to become vitamin-deficient, either by not eating enough of the right foods or not absorbing them properly due to digestive issues,” says Dr. Susan Blum, the founder of the Blum Center for Health and the author of the new book The Immune System Recovery Plan.
Read the article in its entirety, here: www.details.com.
Dr. Susan Blum explains to MindBodyGreen how to utilize functional medicine to reverse chronic diseases such as arthritis, diabetes, hypothyroidism, and autoimmune diseases.
Read on to find out more, here: www.mindbodygreen.com.