Dr. Weil on Lupus help

[Guest guest]

From the book "Natural Health, Natural Medicine" by Dr. Weil.p. 27 -28"I believe that high-protein diets can irritate the immune system in some people, aggravating allergies and autoimmune diseases (such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, in which the immune system mistakenly attacks the body's own tissues). Because proteins are the components that make an organism unique, the immune system reads them to decide whether material s in the body are self or foreign. When the immune system is overactive, as in allergy and autoimmunity, flooding the body with animal and plant protein may confuse it further and make resolution of these conditions less likely. I find that very low protein diets often contribute to improvement in patients with immune-system problems.p. 34-35"Milk protein, or casein, can also cause trouble. It increases the production of mucus in most people and so aggravates such conditions as asthma, bronchitis, and sinusitis. Moreover, it acts as an irritant of the immune system in many cases of overactive immunity (allergies and autoimmune diseases). Even if skin tests do not demonstrate true allergy to milk, removing it from the diet often leads to improvement in allergic conditions like asthma and eczema and in autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. Eating nonfat milk products does not help, because they have the same amount of milk protein, and it is the protein that causes these unwelcome effects. Be aware that nondairy cheese substitutes made from soybeans and almonds may still contain casein to give them a more authentic texture. If you are trying to avoid milk protein, read labels of these products carefully.(Work at Improving Your Mental and Emotional Health)p.199"A few years ago I saw two patients with advanced lupus. Both were women in their thirties, one white, one black. The white woman was hospitalized with serious kidney damage and, as a result, uncontrollably high blood pressure. She also had serious toxicity from long term treatment with steroids and other immunosuppressive drugs. Her prognosis was grave. The black women was out of the hospital, but also was very sick with kidney damage, high blood pressure, brain dysfunction, and drug toxicity. She was in better shape than the first patient, but her future also looked grim. The first patient underwent a religious conversion in the hospital and became a fundamentalist Christian. The second woman fell in love and subsequently married. Both went into complete remission and became symptom free.The young science of pyschoneuroimmunology is demonstrating the interconnections of mind, nervous system, and immune system. In many cases the connections are chemical, with small protein molecules called peptides being the messengers that take information from cell to cell. It is clear that the nervous, immune, and endocrine systems are in constant biochemical communication, linked by a web of peptide hormones. Wherever nerves are, the activities of the mind can travel.Clearly, emotional states like grief and depression can interfere with immunity, just as loving can enhance it. You do not need to know any more than that to be motivated to improve your emotional health. .....Do not try to stop or fight negative mental states. Instead, put energy into creating a positive state, and the negativity will tend to resolve.p. 259-260AUTOIMMUNITYWhen the immune system mistakenly attacks the body's own tissues, a state of autoimmunity exists, resulting in diseases that can be mild or severe. The commonest autoimmune disorders are rheumatoid arthritis, glomerulonephritis, rheumatic fever, systemic lupus ereythematosus (SLE), polymyositis, autoimmune thyroiditis, autoimmune hemolytic anemia, idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), myasthenia gravis, scleroderma, and Sjogren's syndrome. Some other diseases, such as ulcerative colitis and multiple sclerosis may have autoimmune components.Autoimmune reactions may be set off by infection, tissue injury, or emotional trauma in people with a genetic predisposition to them. Conventional medicine does not do a very good job with these diseases. It can manage patients through the worst crises, but its treatments are suppressive, not curative, and often fuel the autoimmune process. In addition, most of the drugs used in these disorders, especially steroids and immunosuppressives, cause terrible toxicity when they are used for more than a few weeks. (Doctors frequently put patients on them for months and years.) I have seen dramatic improvements in some autoimmune patients who stopped taking all allopathic medication and worked to improve their health in other ways.Here are some general recommendations for autoimmunity:*Eat a low protein, high carbohydrate diet of the sort recommended in Chapters 1 and 2. (Patty's note: Sorry, but you'll have to buy the book to get those chapters!) Eliminate milk and milk products, including commercial foods made with milk. Minimize consumption of foods of animal origin.* Avoid polyunsaturated vegetable oils of all kinds. (Patty's note: This would mean any other oil EXCEPT for olive oil.)* Be sure to do regular aerobic exercise. This is most important.* Practice relaxation techniques like those described in Chapter 6. (Get the book.)Vizualization can be very effective at moderating autoimmune responses. Psychotherapy can be valuable as an aid to changing emotional states that keep the immune system off balance. Hypnotherapy is also useful if you can find a hypnotherapist willing to take on autoimmune disease. * Read over Chapters 11 and 12 for information on how to protect your immune system. (Get the book.)* Do not stay in treatment with any practitioners who make you feel pessimistic about your condition. All autoimmune diseases tend to follow patterns of exacerbation and remission, and the potential for remission is always there. Suppressive therapies reduce the probability of lasting remission. The ups and downs of these conditions often mirror the ups and downs of emotional life, so it is worth cultivating positive mental states and working with practitioners who encourage you to experiment and try to manage your own health.pp.311-312LUPUSOne of the major autoimmune diseases, affecting young women mostly, lupus can be mild or life-threatening. It frequently causes arthritis tht behaves like rheumatoid arthritis, skin eruptions, and kidney disease that can result in hypertension. The drugs that allopathic doctors use to treat lupus are supressive and highly toxic. They may be necessary for brief periods of crisis, but it is important to hold them in reserve for times of need and to get off of them as soon as possible. If you take them regularly, you will reduce the chance of having the lupus go naturally into remission. Here are the recommendations I give for patients with this disease:* Eat a very low protein diet, with lots of starches and fresh fruits and vegetables. Avoid milk and all milk products.* Avoid all polyunsaturated oils. Use only extra virgin olive oil and cold-pressed canola oil.* Eat sardines packed in sardine oil three times a week. or take supplemental linseed oil.* Take black currant oil, 500 mg, twice a day.* If arthritis is a problem, take an herb called feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium). Use only freeze-dried feverfew leaves (available at most health food stores) and take one capsule twice a day. This has an anti-inflammatory effect, helpful in cases of autoimmune arthritis. Use it as long as symptoms persist.* Drink plenty of water.* Get plenty of rest.* Do aerobic exercise regularly. Swim if arthritis is a problem.* Do not stay in treatment with any medical doctors who make you feel hopeless about your condition. Lupus, like all autoimmune diseases, has a high potential to go into remission. These suggestions of practitioners, for good or ill, can be powerful influences on your state of health.* Experiment with traditional Chinese medicine, Arurvedic medicine, Native American medicine, and other forms of unorthodox medicine, including healers.* Use the breathing exercise on pages 119-120 and work with other techniques of relaxation and stress reduction.* Use vizualization and hypnotherapy to increase the likelihood of remission.* Read Lupus Novice: Towards Self Healing by Chester (Barrytown, NY.: Station Hill Press, 1987) for the story of one woman's adventures with this disease and her encounters with regular and alternative medicine.