Why western medicine gets autoimmune diseases all wrong.

[Polaris]

Interesting video featuring Dr Amy Myers on how autoimmune diseases originate in the gut:

mindbodygreen.com/0-14571/w...

[Leilanilea]

Just reviewed several of Amy Myers' online sites. She sells everything from shampoo to multivitamins, some formulas supposedly good for both children and adults. Some of her "supplements" are to be taken as six capsules per day, thus the 180-count bottle is a 30-day supply and expensive. Whenever I see a doctor who sells their own products it raises a red flag, as do the words/phrases "cleanse" and "liver detoxification." I would be careful about the information Myers provides.

[Polaris in reply to Leilanilea]

We are all searching for answers in our own way. It is the information I'm interested not the products. She is highly recommended as a doctor practising functional medicine, which tries to get to the root of illness and, as she says, often diet alone can change health by eliminating inflammatory foods - gluten, dairy, corn, etc. Here in the UK, it is increasingly difficult to get a proper diagnosis when the medical profession rely on flawed tests and income from expensive drugs to run their surgeries,

So far, all my own research keeps coming back to the digestive system - the connection with vitamin B12 and how all the enzymes work together in the gut to reduce high homocysteine ("The H Factor" by Patrick Holford & Dr James Braly).

The fundamental message, therefore, about the importance of a healthy gut for the immune system to function well is excellent.

[Leilanilea in reply to Polaris]

Polaris,

I understand that the information, not the products, is what you are interested in. My point is that reputable physicians do not promote themselves online and shouldn't be profitting financially from the very products they recommend. There has to be bias at play here.

Leilani

[Polaris]

I did see your point but feel it may be a bit harsh to say reputable physicians should not profit financially at all. Everyone has to make a living and yes, we should be discriminating. It's not as if she was actively pushing her own products in the video or on site. Part of her philosophy is about living in a chemical free environment and taking various health supplements to reduce inflammation, so it is probably helpful for some people to find a product which is readily available.

Patrick Holford, the nutritionist already mentioned, also writes books and sells his own expensive products, but I found the advice in his book very sound. He and Dr Amy Myers are the only people I have come across so far to mention the effect of MTHFR gene in connection with autoimmune disease, and I'm particularly interested in this.