Immune Imbalance: The Health Threat of the 21^st Century

Every day, new studies are published that point to a malfunctioning immune system as the real culprit in conditions like heart disease, obesity, and multiple sclerosis. Our immune systems are letting us down. The more we learn, the more we realize that tuning up our immune systems is the best investment we can make for extended good health and longevity.

Scientists are discovering that diseases once thought to be unrelated to infectious invaders are really caused by micro-organisms that either fail to trigger the proper immune response or overstimulate that response. One of these is a debilitating disease called multiple sclerosis.

A Common Bacteria Linked to MS

A startling report found in the July 1999 issue of Annals of Neurology reported that a common bacterium called Chlamydia pneumoniae was present in all the patients tested in the study with multiple sclerosis (MS). This bacteria is the same one that causes walking pneumonia. While MS has been classified as an autoimmune disorder in which the immune system’s defense mechanisms mistakenly destroy the nerve coverings, new studies tell us that a bacteria may really be to blame.

Note: A viral link has also been discovered to MS. Recent data out of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke suggests that a herpes virus found in 30 percent of people tested with MS may be liked to the disease.

In both of these scenarios, it is thought that the infectious agent remains dormant in nerve tissue until a flare up.