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- How We Treat Autoimmune Diseases
Your immune system's job is to fight foreign substances in the body, such as bacteria and viruses. But with autoimmune diseases, things go awry. The immune system attacks the body's own tissues, causing inflammation, pain, and tissue injury. More than 23 million Americans are affected by lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, multiple sclerosis, Crohn's, and scores of other autoimmune diseases.
Nobody is sure of the underlying cause of autoimmunity. Genetics appear to play a role, and microorganisms may be involved. Other possible culprits include vitamin D deficiencies, food allergies, and "leaky gut," which allows partially digested proteins to cross the intestinal walls and enter the general circulation, where they prompt an immune response.
Conventional doctors offer little relief for autoimmune disorders, except to prescribe powerful medications such as immunosuppressives, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and steroids. Long-term use of these drugs can have serious side effects including gastrointestinal bleeding, retinopathy, headaches, and kidney failure.
Furthermore, they ignore proven therapies, including one safe, proven drug (low-dose naltrexone, LDN), which have the potential to help millions of patients. At the Whitaker Wellness Institute, we offer multiple treatments for autoimmune diseases that, unlike the typcially prescribed medications, address the patient's overall health as well as underlying disease mechanisms.
- Our Unique Therapies
Hormone Replacement
Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy can be a godsend for patients with autoimmune diseases. Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) has a modulating effect
on the immune system and lowers production of stress hormones. Estriol, a form of estrogen, also shows promise, particularly for women with multiple sclerosis. And natural thyroid (as opposed to synthetic Synthroid), often improves outcomes in patients with autoimmune thyroid disease.
Low-Dose Antibiotics
In addition, we use a decades-old therapy that in some cases actually reverses autoimmune disease. It involves a course of low-dose antibiotics aimed at eradicating the microorganisms present in affected joints. Although this therapy has been well studied and written about in top scientific journals, it is largely disregarded by conventional physicians. But for some patients with rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, and other autoimmune diseases, low-dose antibiotic treatment is nothing short of miraculous.
Low-Dose Naltrexone
The physicians at Whitaker Wellness also prescribe another overlooked, yet very powerful drug for autoimmune disorders: low-dose naltrexone (LDN). Small
doses of LDN taken at bedtime have a powerful balancing effect on the immune system, making it an excellent therapy not only for autoimmune diseases but for a wide range of other conditions as well.
- Personalized Lifestyle Program
A Therapeutic Diet...
Autoimmune diseases are often associated with food allergies and abnormal bowel permeability, linking them closely to diet and lifestyle. Our Whitaker Wellness team is highly skilled in helping patients identify and develop a diet to avoid food allergens.
Additionally, there is a strong connection between diet and inflammation, and for autoimmune disease sufferers, inflammation means pain. Certain fats (processed vegetable oils, in particular) stimulate the formation of inflammatory chemicals, while others (the omega-3 fatty acids found in cold-water fish and flaxseed) actually reduce inflammation. During the Back to Health Program, you'll learn how your diet can help control flare-ups. More important, we will teach you how to shop for and prepare healthy meals and make them part of your regular diet when you return home.
...Exercise, and Nutritional Supplements
Regular exercise is one of the best therapies around. It strengthens the musculature around affected joints and increases flexibility, improves sleep, boosts energy, and even benefits your mental attitude. Our exercise physiologist will help you create a personalized exercise program that will help you regain function and mobility.
The immune system needs a strong nutritional foundation over a long period of time to combat autoimmune diseases. In addition to a broad range of protective antioxidants and other vitamins and minerals, your Whitaker Wellness physician will prescribe a potent combination of nutritional supplements for relieving pain and inflammation, such as fish oil, curcumin, and other herbs.
- Our Patient Success Stories
Click the links below to read about how other people with autoimmune disease used the Whitaker Wellness Institute's healing therapies to get back on the road to health.
- Articles on Autoimmune Diseases
Click the links below to read more about the Whitaker Wellness approach to successfully treating autoimmune diseases.
You owe it to yourself to explore how the unique, drug-free therapies offered at the Whitaker Wellness Institute can turn your health around. Call us at (800) 488-1500 to speak with a Patient Services Representative. We can customize a treatment program that fits both your budget and your health goals.
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