Since we know that APA is autoimmune, we can deduce that our immune systems are malfunctioning. A current area of research in immunology is with the "TH" systems. You have different areas of your immune system, known as T-helpers. The T-helper 1 generally attacks viruses and pathogens directly, while a T-helper 2 creates antibodies that can attach to antigens in general. There are many more such as TH3, and TH17, but it's just important to know they are out of balance. With this knowledge it may be possible to bring them back into balance.
Here is a great video reference for understanding this:
youtube.com/watch?v=zQGOcOU...
Also, the body is like a computer operating system. It's not mysterious, but something we will eventually totally understand:
livingwellnessblog.files.wo...
It is theorized that the imbalance of these systems can contribute to autoimmune conditions, and it has been observed that these systems are imbalanced in all autoimmune conditions.
For example:
"In conclusion, the data presented in this study demonstrated that the aPL titers play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of APS. These results also demonstrated that there is a Th1/Th2 imbalance, a Th17 upregulation and a Treg downregulation in APS, and that these factors are positively correlated with the antibody titers, suggesting a potential role of Th cells in the pathogenesis of APS. The Th cell changes provide a novel method for the treatment of patients with APS."
spandidos-publications.com/...
When we look at conventional medicine, we see that it try's to treat symptoms and not necessarily provide a cure. While I'm not suggesting there is a cure within reach, I don't believe we have scratched the surface of what's possible in treating chronic and autoimmune conditions.
I was recently reading some blog posts by a doctor named David Peterson. He is currently involved in an area of study that looks at how chemicals in foods provoke autoimmune responses, as well as how everyone can have unique response to chemicals, foods, hormones, etc. Thus, there appears to be something that triggers this autoimmune reaction, and looking for that cause will eventually be important in treating it.
Since many people can present with many different flavors of APA and autoimmune conditions in general, it's almost like everyone has a certain type of their APA. So, autoimmune conditions may be able to be subdivided based on how your immune system is balanced:
So, it comes down to this: I don't think current treatment of Hughes is optimal. Some people do well and some people don't. Perhaps this is because the conventional treatment doesn't work optimally for everyone and further research is needed.
Picture this: Eventually we will be able to subtype our condition and treat it with a combination of natural supplements as well as medication if needed. Furthermore, we may be able to identify triggers which could even be things that people regularly consume in their diets, such as lectins, gluten, casein, and other inflammatory compounds, and eliminate these. By combining conventional and functional medicine as well as benefiting from the evolution of medicine, we will be able to treat this condition optimally for everyone.
