Re: Will iodine improve the immune system?

[Guest guest]

The idea that autoimmune diseases are a result of an overactive immune

system is from Western medicine and is actually incorrect. Autoimmune

diseases arise from a weak immune system. The Western treatment of

weakening the immune system to " treat " such problems is notoriously a failure.

The only treatment that works to truly restore function is strengthening the

immune system appropriately. All non-Western/traditional/indigenous medical

systems know this and that is why they have more success with such chronic

illnesses.

So no, iodine does not make autoimmune or inappropriate immune responses

worse. It strengthens the system and promotes healing.

--

moderator

On 27 Feb 2012 at 14:18, health43mj wrote:

> I was just wondering if iodine will improve the immune system for

> fighting infections without aggravating inappropriate immune responses

> like allergies? I read Dr Brownsteins book and I remember him saying

> iodine would help hashi's not make it worse, but what about other

> inappropriate immune responses?

>

> MJ

[Guest guest]

I agree that weakening the immune system is not an effective way to treat autoimmune diseases. However, it does seem that the immune system does overreact in many of them, thus using immune modulation seems more logical than immune stimulation. (NOT saying that iodine is immune stimulating because it seems to play a more supportive role.)

in AlaskaOn Mon, Feb 27, 2012 at 12:10 PM, Baker <vbaker@...> wrote:

 

The idea that autoimmune diseases are a result of an overactive immune

system is from Western medicine and is actually incorrect. Autoimmune

diseases arise from a weak immune system. The Western treatment of

weakening the immune system to " treat " such problems is notoriously a failure.

The only treatment that works to truly restore function is strengthening the

immune system appropriately. All non-Western/traditional/indigenous medical

systems know this and that is why they have more success with such chronic

illnesses.

So no, iodine does not make autoimmune or inappropriate immune responses

worse. It strengthens the system and promotes healing.

--

moderator

On 27 Feb 2012 at 14:18, health43mj wrote:

> I was just wondering if iodine will improve the immune system for

> fighting infections without aggravating inappropriate immune responses

> like allergies? I read Dr Brownsteins book and I remember him saying

> iodine would help hashi's not make it worse, but what about other

> inappropriate immune responses?

>

> MJ

[Guest guest]

Well, it only LOOKS like the immune system is overreacting-- yes it seems

" logical " but there are many examples of the truth being " counterintuitive " .

Dampening the immune system only makes the problem worse, as Western

medicine proves over and over again. Appropriate support and building for the

longterm is the only way to actually improve. That's talking deep building with

herbs and nutrition, building that takes into account the long and short term

effects, not just dumping chemical drugs in and calling that a treatment.

Traditional Chinese Medine and Ayurvedic excel at this. But functional medicine

and nutritional therapy/supplements are entirely capable. It's just that the

idea

that food influences health is almost still denied by Western medicine, whereas

in the Chinese and East Indian systems diet has always been part of medicine.

So Western practitioners still are at a disadvantage on this score.

You use the term immune modulation, I used the term " strengthen

appropriately " , I don't see any real difference between the concepts.

Modulation

means finding the correct balance-- which is what is going on with appropriate

strengthening. I would NOT recommend that people just randomly start doing

immune-building-- it needs to be done carefully and appropriately. And I'm not

a

TCM practitioner and I wouldn't attempt to advise-- however I have studied the

system and received TCM for my fibromyalgia which for 10 years was

completely managed with nutritional supplements and diet, before the big health

crash (and after I had moved away from my doctor and hadn't been treated for 2

years). And, my ND/Acupuncturist prescribed LDN for me once I asked him for

it and he researched it (in Calif NDs can prescribe certain things). The point

there being, a good practitioner has an open mind. On the other hand, I started

the iodine protocol without consulting my ND, because I know that iodine is

demonized and I did my research and I didn't need outside validation about

taking it.

But to go back to the original question, since this is the Iodine list, which is

to

say, iodine does not cause imbalances. It corrects them.

--

moderator

On 27 Feb 2012 at 12:18, Hidden Jewel wrote:

>

>

>

> I agree that weakening the immune system is not an effective way to

> treat autoimmune diseases. However, it does seem that the immune

> system does overreact in many of them, thus using immune modulation

> seems more logical than immune stimulation. (NOT saying that iodine is

> immune stimulating because it seems to play a more supportive role.)

>

> in Alaska

>

>

>

>

> On Mon, Feb 27, 2012 at 12:10 PM, Baker <vbaker@...>

> wrote:

>

> The idea that autoimmune diseases are a result of an overactive immune

> system is from Western medicine and is actually incorrect. Autoimmune

> diseases arise from a weak immune system. The Western treatment of

> weakening the immune system to " treat " such problems is notoriously a

> failure. The only treatment that works to truly restore function is

> strengthening the immune system appropriately. All

> non-Western/traditional/indigenous medical systems know this and that

> is why they have more success with such chronic illnesses.

>

> So no, iodine does not make autoimmune or inappropriate immune

> responses worse. It strengthens the system and promotes healing.

>

> --

> moderator

>

> On 27 Feb 2012 at 14:18, health43mj wrote:

>

> > I was just wondering if iodine will improve the immune system for

> > fighting infections without aggravating inappropriate immune

> > responses like allergies? I read Dr Brownsteins book and I remember

> > him saying iodine would help hashi's not make it worse, but what

> > about other inappropriate immune responses?

> >

> > MJ

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

It's not an overreaction of the immune system, more that conditions cause the

immune system to become confused and attack the body.

Linn

> >

> > > I was just wondering if iodine will improve the immune system for

> > > fighting infections without aggravating inappropriate immune responses

> > > like allergies? I read Dr Brownsteins book and I remember him saying

> > > iodine would help hashi's not make it worse, but what about other

> > > inappropriate immune responses?

> > >

> > > MJ

> >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Not weak but gone astray as in mistaking normal tissues as foreign proteins.

Many doctors think leaky gut is a primary culprit for certain autoimmune

diseases, the formation of auto-antibodies due to leaking of body tissue

look-alike antigens. (Gluten and soybean proteins can cause Hashi's

antibodies.) Or the viruses that can cause a mistaken attack.

Autoimmune diseases In healthy individuals, the immune system reacts only to

foreign proteins such as bacteria or viruses, which it

destroys to protect the organism. The major weapons in this immunologic defense

are white blood cells of a type called lymphocytes. The body produces billions

of lymphocytes, each capable of recognizing a specific protein. Two major types

of lymphocytes are the B-lymphocytes, which produce antibodies against foreign

proteins, and T-lymphocytes, which send out chemical signals that activate a

variety of defense mechanisms. As an individual's pool of lymphocytes grows in

embryo, the body can identify and screen out those lymphocytes that have the

dangerous potential to recognize and destroy its own tissues. This screening

process allows the individual to become fully tolerant to " self " while retaining

the ability to attack non-self proteins.

In autoimmune diseases, some lymphocytes mistakenly identify certain normal

tissues as foreign and make them the target of attack-the resulting disease

being determined by the type of tissues under attack. For example, when rogue

lymphocytes destroy the insulin-secreting cells of the pancreas, the result is

diabetes; when they destroy the proteins of joint surfaces, they cause

rheumatoid arthritis. Other common autoimmune diseases include multiple

sclerosis, lupus erythematosus, psoriasis, and certain types of hyperthyroidism

and destructive vascular disease. Thus, a group of puzzling disorders that at

one time seemed unrelated to one another are now known to share the same

fundamental etiology. This finding has set into motion an intense search for the

mechanisms that cause lymphocytes to misbehave.

One of the most suggestive findings comes from recent studies of juvenile

diabetes in animals. These studies indicate that the normal immunologic attack

on an invading bacterium can lead to a costly case of mistaken identity that

culminates in juvenile diabetes. The story starts with the discovery of a link

between juvenile diabetes (type 1 diabetes) and infection with the relatively

benign sackie virus, a common cause of colds and sore throats in children.

After the sackie virus is broken down into small chains of amino acids by the

immune system, some of those chains themselves also come under attack. But the

structure of the viral fragments under attack is so similar to the structure of

a protein on the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas that these cells are

also treated as foreign by the immune system-and are damaged or destroyed.

Juvenile diabetes is thought to be the result of this " molecular mimicry, " and

the search is on to see whether additional reactions between an infectious agent

and a protein component of other tissue, such as a joint surface, may be

involved in triggering other autoimmune diseases.

http://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft5f59n9wc & chunk.id=d0e1799\

& toc.id=d0e1596 & brand=ucpress

Linn

> > > > > I was just wondering if

> > iodine will improve the immune system for > > > fighting infections

> > without aggravating inappropriate immune responses > > > like

> > allergies? I read Dr Brownsteins book and I remember him saying > > >

> > iodine would help hashi's not make it worse, but what about other > >

> > > inappropriate immune responses? > > > > > > MJ > > > > >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> > ------------------------------------

> >

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> > Moderators: Baker, Kathleen Blake, Donna Iler, Linn

> >

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