Autoimmune Disease and Allergies
Last Updated: 29th December 2022 · Written by Donna Mastriani
Autoimmune Disease and Allergies
The immune system is our body’s primary defence system, with the ability to detect, attack and destroy any foreign invaders. However, in autoimmune disease, the body’s immune system turns its attention to its own healthy cells and attacks these. There are as many as 80 different types of autoimmune diseases, with some of the most common being coeliac disease, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, systemic lupus erythematosus, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, Graves’ disease, Addison’s disease, inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis) and pernicious anaemia.
Autoimmune diseases are more common in women than men and having one type of autoimmune disease increases the chances of developing further autoimmune conditions. Do you want to find out more? Read on to see how an allergy blood test can help you.
Managing Your Condition
Unfortunately, there is no cure for an autoimmune disease, therefore understanding how best to manage a particular condition in order to reduce symptoms and improve the quality of your daily life is paramount. Getting your diet right for your condition, but also for you as an individual can lead to great improvements in symptoms. In this respect, taking an allergy blood test to understand the presence of any allergies can provide highly valuable information. Using this information you can make the necessary changes to your diet in order to reduce levels of circulating IgE antibodies, inflammation and improve symptom management.
What is the Allergy Link?
The production of IgE antibodies, characteristic of an allergic response, is inflammatory and may, therefore, contribute towards chronic inflammation. Therefore an allergy blood test is of particular relevance when managing those autoimmune conditions, which have an inflammatory aspect such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and ulcerative colitis. Although even if you have an autoimmune condition, which isn’t inflammatory in nature, an allergy blood test is highly recommended. This is because both allergies and autoimmune disease are inherent of a level of immune system ‘dysregulation’ and frequently autoimmune disease patients also have allergies. Understanding their presence, identifying problem foods, pet dander or inhalants and reducing your exposure to them can significantly reduce the load on the immune system and contribute towards a greater sense of wellbeing.
At Lifelab Testing we believe in good quality of daily life and helping every customer towards a greater sense of wellbeing. Identifying the presence of allergies through our Basic Allergy or Complete Body tests allows the implementation of effective dietary changes and the reduction of symptoms.
Click here to read our blog about how to ‘Deal with Hayfever in the Summer Months‘.
