Following the diagnosis of an autoimmune disease, as the condition progresses, metabolic disorders and deficiencies that led to its development manifest as symptoms that significantly affect daily life.Photo by Yuliia Tretynychenko on Unsplash. 

Patients with Autoimmune Disease Suffer from Micronutrient Deficiencies; they do not Know they Have

Patients with autoimmune diseases often have unrecognized deficiencies and metabolic disorders. These include marginal micronutrient deficiencies that accumulate over time and lead to disease.

Many patients with autoimmune diseases are unaware that their fatigue, low energy levels, chronic inflammation, pain, and fluid retention are due to marginal deficiencies and metabolic disturbances, which often go unnoticed for years and are challenging to detect.

After diagnosing an autoimmune disease, as the disease progresses, the metabolic disorders and deficiencies that led to its development become evident through symptoms that significantly impact the patient's health and daily life. Specialized tests are necessary to accurately record these deficiencies and metabolic disturbances, essential for devising a comprehensive treatment plan^[1-2].

Hidden Hunger & Autoimmune Diseases

"Hidden Hunger" refers to the marginal deficiency of micronutrients. It relates to the accumulated deficiencies of essential nutrients in the body, such as vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and others^[3-6]. 

Hidden hunger is a primary factor in the development of autoimmune and chronic diseases, as deficiencies in micronutrients^[2,3,7]:

• Disrupt the immune system's function
   
• Worsen inflammation
   
• Increase susceptibility to infections
   
• Exacerbate the progression of chronic diseases, including autoimmune, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, obesity, and respiratory illnesses.

Even though nutrient deficiencies are common, they often remain undetected. Vitamins and nutrients like vitamin D, omega-3 fatty acids, magnesium, selenium, and probiotics play a crucial role in the normal regulation of the immune system.

These marginal nutrient deficiencies often go unnoticed for years until a disease manifests. Linking it to a specific deficiency is challenging even when the disease occurs due to multiple contributing factors.

An increasing number of studies connect nutrient deficiencies with chronic diseases. Examples include:

• Hashimoto's disease and thyroid diseases: selenium, chromium, vitamin D, zinc.
   
• Psoriasis: vitamin D, omega-3.
   
• Rheumatoid arthritis: vitamin D.
   
• Allergies, asthma: dehydration, magnesium, minerals, omega-3.
   
• Diabetes: vitamin D, magnesium, chromium.
   
• Multiple sclerosis: vitamin D, heavy metals, essential amino acids, alteration of gut microbiota.
   
• Colitis and inflammatory bowel diseases: alteration of gut microbiota.

These deficiencies are associated with the overactivity of the immune system, which produces antibodies and attacks tissues it shouldn't.

Image: In autoimmune diseases, the immune system produces antibodies against the body's own tissues (autoantibodies).

Why Tests for Diagnosing Autoimmune Diseases Usually Don't Reflect Patients' Problems

Patients diagnosed with autoimmune diseases undergo laboratory tests (general blood tests, inflammation markers, liver or kidney function indicators), imaging tests (ultrasound, X-ray, MRI), and sometimes biopsies.

These tests contribute to the disease diagnosis and determination of appropriate medication. However, standard diagnostic tests for autoimmune diseases often fail to identify problems explaining fatigue, weight management difficulties, chronic inflammation, poor gastrointestinal function, and low energy levels experienced by patients. So, inevitably, they do not lead to effective management of these issues.

Patients' efforts to improve their health often fail or don't yield the desired results, as they are based on general guidelines that do not consider the patient's metabolic condition, lifestyle, diet, and habits. Hence, patients struggle to feel better and continually seek to improve their health.

This is because deficiencies and metabolic disruptions, not easily detected with standard laboratory tests, go unnoticed for many years.

Identifying and correcting these deficiencies are essential in treating autoimmune diseases.

Autoimmune diseases have a significant metabolic background. The most critical metabolic disorders associated with their development and progression include low metabolism, deficiencies in micronutrients, insulin resistance, disruption in the body's ability to manage chronic inflammation, and alteration of the microbial flora.

To substantially improve the health of patients with autoimmunity, their treatment should include, alongside appropriate medication, identifying and correcting deficiencies and metabolic dysfunctions.

As marginal deficiencies in micronutrients and metabolic dysfunctions worsen over years and lead to disease, time and effort are required for their correction.

Otherwise, if these deficiencies and metabolic disturbances involved in the disease development are not managed, the disease progresses with steady and gradual worsening through exacerbations and remissions, burdening the patient's daily life and health condition.

The Contribution of Metabolomic Analyses in Treating Autoimmune Diseases

Blood analysis of small molecules detects deficiencies and metabolic disturbances linked with the course and manifestation of autoimmune diseases.

These tests, known as metabolomic analyses, measure tiny molecules involved in the body's chemical reactions. Their advantage is that they measure exact deficiencies and metabolic dysfunctions, making treating autoimmune diseases more effective^[1,2,4].

Metabolomic analyses are not comparable to ordinary laboratory tests. These tests are highly specialized and are performed in only a select number of laboratories around the world that adhere to very high standards. Our clinic's lab is involved in quality control programs organized by prestigious institutions such as the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the European Network of Laboratory Metabolic Diseases (ERNDIM).

These specialized tests detect over 80 indicators concerning[1,2,6-12]:

• Micronutrient Deficiencies: deficiencies in vitamin D, vitamin C, selenium, zinc, antioxidants, and omega-3 are linked to the deterioration of the immune system's function, the emergence of inflammation, and the health condition of patients with autoimmune diseases.
   
• Mitochondria Function: 90% of the energy required by the human body is produced in organelles within the cells, the mitochondria. Mitochondrial dysfunction is associated with the feeling of gradually increasing fatigue and exhaustion experienced by patients with autoimmune diseases.
   
• Glucose and Sugars Metabolism: excessive consumption of simple sugars beyond what an individual's body can metabolize triggers inflammatory flare-ups in autoimmune diseases, perpetuates inflammation, and is linked to low energy levels, feelings of fatigue, and gastrointestinal dysfunction in patients with autoimmune diseases.
   
• Insulin Resistance: insulin acts as a function suppressant in the immune system. Elevated insulin levels disrupt the immune system, worsen autoimmunity, and accelerate the destruction of organs affected by the disease. Simultaneously, high insulin levels impede fat burning and are associated with patients' difficulty managing their weight.
   
• Neurotransmitters Metabolism: substances like dopamine, serotonin, and adrenaline transmit messages between cells and regulate the function of the nervous and hormonal systems. Metabolomic analyses provide an accurate picture of the secretion of these neurotransmitters, which affect mood swings and the feeling of melancholy often experienced by patients with autoimmune diseases.
   
• Fatty Acid Metabolism: The balance between omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids is a significant indicator of the body's ability to manage inflammation, linked to inflammatory flare-ups of the disease and the feeling of pain often experienced by patients.
   
• Microbial Flora Condition: alteration of the microbiota is linked with deterioration of the gastrointestinal system's function, bloating, abdominal distension, alternating constipation with diarrhea, and simultaneously affects the mood and energy of patients with autoimmune diseases.

These analyses provide a comprehensive picture of the individual's health status. They identify indicators associated with low energy levels, poor gastrointestinal function, difficulty in weight management, chronic inflammation, and mood swings experienced by patients with autoimmune diseases.

Our clinic's scientific team evaluates the results of the tests to formulate a treatment plan tailored to each patient.

Until a few years ago, accurately recording each individual's deficiencies was challenging with traditional measurement methods. Therefore, a correction was based on general guidelines. Recently, this sensitive measurement method, detecting small molecules in the body, provides an accurate picture of an individual's health status.

Based on our clinical experience with patients with autoimmune diseases, medical interventions in lifestyle, correction of deficiencies, and diet based on the results of metabolomic analyses bring about:

- Improvement in the disease's course, halting further destruction of the organ targeted by the immune system.

- In most cases, there is a reduction in the levels of autoantibodies, as in Hashimoto's disease, myasthenia gravis, lupus, etc.

- Decrease in the feeling of fatigue and increase in energy levels.

- Reduction of inflammation and pain.

- Improvement in gastrointestinal function.

- Improvement in mood and reduction of intense emotional fluctuations associated with autoimmune diseases.

- Better response to medical treatment.

It usually takes 6-8 months to achieve a significant change, one year to stabilize the body at a better functional level, and two years to achieve optimal results.

Our clinical experience has shown that correcting deficiencies in vitamins and other elements and restoring metabolic disturbances improve the body's ability to manage inflammation, accelerate healing processes, and reduce symptoms like pain, chronic fatigue, and low energy levels experienced by patients with autoimmune diseases. Gradually, patients improve their quality of life and observe a steady improvement.

Prompt intervention to restore these aspects is vital to halt the disease's progression.
 

Bibliographic References