Autoimmune & Nervous System Issues
A Holistic Approach to Addressing Autoimmune & Nervous System Issues
What Are Autoimmune Conditions?
An autoimmune disease is a condition in which your immune system mistakenly attacks your body. The immune system’s job is to normally protect you against germs and other potentially harmful agents like bacteria, viruses, and fungi. With an autoimmune disease, the immune system mistakes normal parts of your body as foreign and releases an army of fighter cells to attack healthy cells. Doctors still don’t know the exact cause of immune system misfires, so most autoimmune conditions do not yet have an exact cure. Certain autoimmune diseases seem to have a genetic link, and doctors suspect environmental factors like infections and exposure to chemicals or solvents may also be involved. Patients often seek out an autoimmune naturopath, as holistic health practitioners like Dr. Lana can help manage a variety of autoimmune conditions, including lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.
There are dozens of different autoimmune diseases, and although individual conditions can have their own individual symptoms, the early signs of many autoimmune diseases can be very similar, making them difficult to diagnose. These include: fatigue, achy muscles, swelling and redness, low-grade fever, trouble concentrating, numbness and tingling in the hands and feet, hair loss, skin rashes.
Autoimmune & Nervous System Issues Conditions Dr. Lana & the DLW Team Specialize In
Lupus
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease where your body starts to attack healthy tissues by creating an inflammatory response. Specialized immune compounds can get deposited anywhere in the body, interfering with normal organ function. Local inflammation in your kidneys, heart, brain, central nervous system, lungs, blood, and blood vessels can arise and result in a range of issues from cognitive function, thrombosis, and photosensitivity, to painful breathing, hair loss, and arthritis. Dr. Lana’s comprehensive and holistic approach focuses on regulating the immune system, decreasing free radical load and damage, improving digestion, and addressing food sensitivities.
Hashimoto’s Disease
Hashimoto's disease is a condition where your immune system begins attacking your thyroid gland, inhibiting it from producing metabolically important thyroid hormones. The suppression in hormone synthesis manifests as hypothyroidism, where your metabolism slows down, and you begin to gain weight, experience fatigue, muscle weakness, and a swollen thyroid gland, which is sometimes referred to as a goiter if large enough. Dr. Lana reviews blood work to confirm that your symptoms are caused by the autoimmune thyroid disease and her patient care focuses on healing foods, botanicals, herbs, and supplements that support a healthy gut microbiome, immune system, metabolism, and thyroid.
Migraines
Migraines are unilateral, pulsing headaches that may occur periodically throughout life. Although the etiology nor the pathophysiology of migraines has yet to be elucidated, many suggest that food sensitivities, inflammation, dysbiosis, and increased stress on the body are common underlying causes. Due to the complex nature of these headaches, Dr. Lana combines multiple therapeutic techniques to rid you of your uncomfortable symptoms.
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis is an inflammatory condition whereby your immune system begins to attack healthy connective tissue causing a range of symptoms from swelling, inflammation, and pain to weight loss, loss of mobility, and joint deformity and disability. Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic and progressive disease. Dr. Lana’s holistic approach to addressing this autoimmune condition focuses on healing dysbiosis, improving digestion, and reducing systemic inflammation with dietary and lifestyle modification, supplements, and botanicals.