IBD and Autoimmune diseases

Do you have an autoimmune disease and IBD?

IBD includes Crohn’s disease (CD) and Ulcerative Colitis (UC) Many people have suspected that Irritable Bowel Disease (IBD), which is characterized by belly/abdominal pain, diarrhea, mucus in the stools or even blood, or gas pains, is an autoimmune disease.

Autoimmune means that the body is attacking itself. In Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, for example, which is the leading cause of hypothyroidism, the body attacks and continues killing the thyroid until you need thyroid medicine. In rheumatoid arthritis, the body attacks the joints, making them deformed and painful. Almost all of us know at least one person that is suffering with an autoimmune disease.

Many IBD patients also have autoimmune diseases. The most common ones seen in IBD are ankylosing spondylitis (a joint disease), joint pain, eye problems (uveitis), and liver and gall bladder problems. The body is fighting itself in one organ, and my suspicion is that in IBD, the body is fighting itself again. If you have an auto-immune disease, it means that the body is attacking itself. To think, their is a war going on inside of your body and it is self vs. self. 

Things in the immune system are out of balance. The goal, therefore, is to balance the immune system, not just treat the inflammation. If you take steroids, your inflammation will go down but your immune system is still attacking itself. It’s not a long-term solution.

Naturopathic doctors are trained to treat the cause, which in this case, is an altered immune system. There are three main causes of autoimmune diseases, and if we attack all three, the body can heal itself. Keep reading for more information on IBD.