Note: Article first appeared on-line December 10, 2005.
SHORT TOPIC SERIES I: Autoimmune Disease
INTRODUCTION
You've heard the syaing: "one's greatest strength is also his greatest weakness." This is no truer than in the immune system. Many clinicians believe that every disease is essentially the result of breakdown of our immune system. But in the bizarre case of autoimmune disease, the immune system actually becomes the body's worst enemy itself by attacking normal cells and tissue. If it attacks the joint space, we call it rheumatoid arthritis; if it attacks our bowels, we call it Chron's disease or ulcerative colitis; if it attacks the mylein sheath of our nerves, we call itmultiple sclerosis; and when it attacks the connective tissue of our body, we call it lupus or scleroderma.
Why and how does this happen? I learned in medical school that autoimmune diseases were the result of an "overactive" immune system that beginsattacking "self" instead of "nonself." But it made more sense to me that in the case of autoimmune disease, the immune system, rather than being overactive, had instead become
confused and was now attacking the body rather than foreign invaders as it was designed to do.
In a relatively recent review article on autoimmune diseases reported in the
New England Journal of Medicine, the authors pointed out that no one really knows for certain why the immune system literally turns on "self." But many researchers not only believe that oxidative stress is the underlying cause of every autoimmune disease, but that it also could be the culprit that causes our immune system to actually attack us (1).
Several studies have documentedthe fact that the root cause of autoimmune diseases is oxidative stress (2). As you may anticipate, the antioxidant levels in persons with rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, MS, Chron's, ulcerative colitis, and scleroderma are SIGNIFICANTLY DECREASED. Low antioxidant levelshave also been shown to increase one's risk or developing rheumatoid arthritis or lupus. The clinical indicators of oxidative stress are also very high in these patients, especially during a flare-up period of these diseases (3).
Antioxidant supplementation would therefore be ideal for patients with these autoimmune diseases. Not only can antioxidant supplements optimize the natural antioxidant defense system, but they can also enhance our immune system and help control the inflammatory response. In other words, they can help bring oxidative stress back under control and circumvent this entire viscious cycle.
THE PLAYERS: Nutrients that affect our immune system
Let's review the medical literature and see how these individual nutrients actually affects our immune response.
[Note: I have included DA pages to allow you to make your own stack]
Vitamin E
Macrophages that are deficient in Vitamin E release more free radicals and do not live as long. Our immune system uses this production of free radicals to destroy these foreign invaders by actually creating oxidative stress. This is the "good" side of oxidative stress as long as it remains under control. Vitamin E deficiency also affects the differentiation of our T-cells in the thymus; this leads to an imbalance of T-helper to T-suppressor cells. The poor production of T-suppressor cells is one of the main reasons that the inflammatory response can get out of hand. The T-suppressor cells are the riot police that are essential to cooling the immune reaction and so limit collateral damage. Some researchers also believe that poor T-suppressor function is at the heart of the autoimmune response (4).
Studeis show that supplementation with vitamin E (unfortunately villianized by a terrible meta-analysis from a group out of John’s Hopkins in 2004 whom I have publicly debated on this topic) corrects these deficiencies in our immune system and helps clear infections. Clinical studies have also demonstrated that the immune-enhancing effect of vitamin E supplementation was even greater in the elderly and in individuals who had malabsorprion syndromes (5). Mark’s disease, for instance involved both the small bowel and colon, which essentially created a malabsorption of these nutrients. Vitamin E supplementation can also protect against the immunosuppresive effects of cortisol, which is released in great quantities during a stress reaction – perhaps notably in the post-workout period.
http://www.discountanabolics.com/p/PE4
Carotenoids
A well-known property of the carotenoids is the fact that they are capable of protecting the surrounding normal tissue from potential damage caused by the inflammatory response of the immune system. Supplementation of the carotenoids can increase the number and effectiveness of the T-helper cells and the natural killer cells, which constitutes an important part of our defense system against cancer cells. This greatly improves the tumor surveillance of our immune system.
Vitamin C
Dr. Linus Pauling has been influential in making everyone aware of supplemental vitamin C and its ability to enhance the immune system. Although we are still arguing whether massive doses of Vitamin C (see orthomolecular dosing schedules in BodyOpus: Reloaded article here:
http://www.discountanabolics.com/for...ead.php?t=1708) are helpful for the common cold, the enhancing effects on the immune system are fairly well established. Vitamin C has been shown to improve the function of the macrophages (6). This significantly improves the first line of defense against bacterial infections.
It is wiser to take good doses of vitamin C daily rather than massive doses only when you think you are coming down with an infection. In one study, taking 1 gram of vitamin C daily for more than two months showed a striking enhancement of several aspects of the immune system. Vitamin C also has the ability to regenerate vitamin E and handle the excessive free radicals within the plasma. Both of these properties further enhance vitamin C’s ability to improve the immune system.
Glutathione
Supplementation with precursors of glutathione (N-acetyl-L-cysteine, selenium, niacin, and vitamin B2 – Riboflavin) have shown significant enhancement to the overall immune system. Even patients with HIV infections have experienced the positive effect (7).
http://www.discountanabolics.com/p/AN5
Coenzyme Q10
As we age, CoQ10 levels decline and make the mitochondria (the furnace of the cell) especially vulnerable to oxidative damage. CoQ10 is critical for the optimal function of the immune system because of its major role in the production of energy in the cells of the immune system. Supplementation of CoQ10 has been shown to reverse these problems and significantly enhance the immune system (8).
http://www.discountanabolics.com/p/RAD
Zinc
Just about every aspect of our immune system needs zinc. A deficiency does more than lower testosterone guys. It actually suppresses several parts of the immune system: the number of lymphocytes decreases, the function of many white cells is severely reduced, and the levels of thymic hormone, which is a strong stimulus for the immune system, fall.
Many people reach for their zinc lozenges whenever they get a cold. Studies suggest that taking these lozenges every two hours can shorten the length of a cold by several days. Researchers believe that zinc not only boosts the immune system but also inhibits the replication of the virus (9), But a word of caution is necessary here: if a person continues to consume a high dose of zinc for too long, it can actually suppress the immune system. I am not against short-term use of high doses of zinc or even vitamin C with colds; but I believe consistent long term use of optimal doses of these nutrients in supplementation is better for the antioxidant defense system and the immune system.
http://www.discountanabolics.com/p/1411
http://www.discountanabolics.com/p/VP07
CONCLUSION
When all of the players of our immune system are functioning at their peak capacity, our overall health is obviously the beneficiary. Children are able to optimize their immune system via nutritional supplementation within six months. Aging is generally associated with the impairment of our immune responses, which leads to increased frequency and severity of infections which may actually impede our workout progress in the long run as flu season is upon us.
The
British Lancet recently reported a study in which elederly patients received either optimal levels of nutritional supplements or a placebo. Thos patients who received the nutritional supplements had significant improvements of their overall immune response and enjoyed fewer and less severe infection compared to those who received the placebo. It took at least a year of supplementation to optimize their immune systems, but in the end the benefits were dramatic (10). This study, along with several others, supports the fact that our immune system is extremely dependent on these micronutrients, as is our antioxidant defense system. Now, imagine what it could do for your bodybuilding lifestyle. Before worrying about which prohormones to use, make sure your antioxidants are up to par.
11-05-2007, 05:25 PM
Short Topic Series I: Autoimmune Disease
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