Environmental factors as the cause of autoimmune diseases

[Guest guest]

Beth,

Environmental factors that trigger an abnormal immune response is one

of the suspected causes of RA and other autoimmune diseases.

Many scientists believe it is the combination of genetic factors and

environmental exposure. Pollutants, toxins, viruses and bacteria have

been studied in the continuing search for answers.

When they categorize environmental factors, it covers a very wide range

of things ranging from the air we breathe, the food we eat, the

bacteria and viruses we come in contact with, the water we drink, our

cosmetics, deodorants, hair care, and even the clothing we wear. The

problem is that they just don't know the cause. They don't even know

if our immune system is overacting to something or to weak from doing

constant battle with the enemy. Until they know the cause, I don't see

how they can find a cure.

But the hardest thing for me to deal with is that I don't believe they

will find out any time soon if they continue on the path they are

searching.

The majority of research money goes into more drugs to treat symptoms.

How can they effectively treat that what they don't understand?

As long as our medical system is driven by profits of the

pharmaceutical companies, we will continue to treat the symptoms and

never find the answers.

There are some doctors and scientists that have devoted their lifetime

to searching for the cause. Many believe they have found it, but the

medical profession laughs at them and call they quacks. These

alternative approaches are scoffed at, and there is no research money

to prove or disprove due to the fact that there is no profit involved.

Just 30 years ago anyone that said cancer is caused by diet and

lifestyle were ridiculed and attacked. Today it is well known and

accepted that diet and lifestyle cause anywhere from 40-80% (depending

on who you listen to) of many types of cancer. I hope we don't have to

wait 30 years to find out if it something staring us right in the face

is causing our health problems, but we're to blind to see since we're

looking in the wrong places.

As far as your question on confused diagnoses, I believe many of us are

misdiagnosed, myself included. They say there are over 100 different

types of arthritis, but who really knows if they aren't all the same

thing that just manifests differently in each individual?

On Wednesday my faith in the medical system was further crushed. There

was a news report on TV that told of the scientist who's theory it was,

that woman going through menopause had all kinds of ailments due to

reduced hormones being produced. This theory is why millions of woman

take hormone replacements. Well it came out that his clinical trials

were manipulated to support his theory. It's bad enough that millions

of woman have had serious consequences from taking HRT, but it's a

further slap in the face that taxpayer money was used to fund this

fixed trial. But the real kicker is that this isn't the first time

this scientist was caught falsifying data. So why was he given the

opportunity to do it again? How many of these trials have been

manipulated for the benefit of the pharmaceutical company or the

scientist?

Sometimes I wish I could bury my head in the sand, just take the

medicine the doctor orders, and not be concerned with anything except

weeding my garden.

Environmental factors: Many scientists think that something must occur

to trigger the disease process in people whose genetic makeup makes

them susceptible to rheumatoid arthritis. A viral or bacterial

infection appears likely, but the exact agent is not yet known. This

does not mean that rheumatoid arthritis is contagious: a person cannot

catch it from someone else.

http://www.niams.nih.gov/hi/topics/arthritis/rahandout.htm

The Role of Environmental Factors in Rheumatic Diseases

http://www.arthritis.org/research/Bulletin/vol51no10/

environmentalfactors.asp

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