Adrenal fatigue; autoimmune disease

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http://www.adrenalfatigue.org/syndrome_x.php Autoimmune Disease Autoimmune Disease Autoimmune disease is a process in which the white blood cells of the immune system attack one or more parts of the body as if they were the enemy. This disorder is much more likely to occur in people with Adrenal Fatigue and can range from mild to life threatening. Cortisol, one of the primary hormones secreted by the adrenal glands, normally exerts anti-inflammatory control over autoimmune reactions, but in autoimmune disease, cortisol levels are inadequate for the degree of reaction taking place in particular tissues or locations in the body. This is one of the reasons why strong corticosteroids (prednisone, prednisolone, etc.) are used with all diseases involving inflammatory

processes, including autoimmune diseases. These drugs imitate the anti-inflammatory effects of cortisol, although unfortunately with some very serious undesirable side effects. In Adrenal Fatigue, cortisol output drops below normal, making the body more susceptible to autoimmune and inflammatory reactions. Cortisol not only affects the redness and swelling of inflammation but also influences the activity of the white blood cells. Cortisol can be viewed as sustaining life through two opposite but related kinds of regulatory actions: releasing and activating existing defense mechanisms of the body and shutting down and modifying the same mechanisms to prevent them from overshooting and causing damage or cell death. If this regulation is defective during stress, as in Adrenal Fatigue when cortisol output is lower than needed, an animal can be endangered or even die because its defense mechanisms cannot react or because they overreact. When the body is

stressed cortisol is also needed to restrain various physiological mechanisms, to prevent them from damaging the body. This damping down action of cortisol can also be seen in the way cortisol modifies the immune response to control the amount of inflammation in the involved tissues and suppress potentially toxic chemicals secreted by white blood cells, thus protecting the body from autoimmune processes and uncontrolled inflammation. Cortisol is so important that when the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis cannot increase cortisol activity in response to stress (as in Adrenal Fatigue), these unrestrained mechanisms overshoot and can damage the body. For detailed information about how to support your adrenals read Dr. 's book Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome and check out Programs for Adrenal

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