Autoimmune Disease is linked by a Genetic Disorder that Also Can Cause Depression, Heart Disease, General Inflammation of the Skin, and Adult Scelrosis.

This article, an interview with Viola Vaccarino - Professor of Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, looks at low-grade inflammation, causing the immune system to go into overdrive. The effects are felt throughout the body, including the conditions above. It suggests that anti-inflammatory medications may be helpful for all the above, as well as a reduction in stress (and methods to cope with stress). Natural anti-inflammatory foods and supplements is the subject of an upcoming article.

Reference:

Vaccarino V et al. Major Depression and Coronary Flow Reserve Detected by Positron Emissionj Tomography. Arch Intern Med 2009;169(18): 1668-1676

Author Leo Tolstoy, in The Death of Ivan Ilyich, links unexplained liver illness to misplaced goals and life purpose.

Ivan Illyich ‘has long ago fallen out of love with his wife, his children are a mystery to him and he has no friends other than those who can elevate him in his carreer… a man overwhelmingly concerned with status… He works as a high court judge, enjoying the post chiefly because of the respect it brings him.

The pleasures Ivan Illyich derived from his work were those of pride; the pleasures he derived from society were those of vanity; but it was genuine pleasure that he derived from playing whist.

Then, at the age of forty-five, Ivan develops a pain in his side which gradually extends across his body. His doctors are at a loss to work out what is wrong… he becomes too tired to work, his intestines feel as if they are on fire… soon he will be dead. With only a few weeks to live (he) recognizes that he has wasted his time on earth, that he has led an outwardly respectable, but inwardly barren, existence… everything he did was motivated by the desire to appear important in the eyes of others; his own interests and sensitivities were sacrificed for the sake of impressing people who do not care  a jot for him.

What terrifies Ivan is, despite his achievements, wealth, and position (which will soon pass), he cannot count on anyone’s love. What becomes most important is truth, love, and finding the true expression of your being - your own (or God’s) values, rather than what is considered cool, dignified, impressive, or ‘right’.

Reference: Alain de Botton, Status Anxiety, p229.

For a while we were web-homeless, and our resources going to waste. One of our staff members kindly sorted

through all of our old articles, comments, and musings (see previous post), and wrapped them up into an article we submitted to various online health magazines.

Called Autoimmune Health, it was written for a wider audience than just sufferers of Autoimmune Hepatitis (AH), although its underlying principles were developed on our blog. Some of the treatments we recommended are contentious (such as the role of childhood stress to abnormally set high cortisol levels), others from medical textbooks. All have sound reference points in respected literature, even if we did have to connect some dots in drawing conclusions for AH.

If you are new to our sites, and particularly as we get this site up and running, I suggest you read the condensed version of 4 years of blogging by reading the full article at our partner site here.

We appreciate your support, and thank you for your help with co-developing these resources with us. We have a new partner - My Health Encyclopedia, which was founded by a fellow autoimmune sufferer, and has provided free website design and hosting. Check out My Health Encyclopedia (also undertaking an upgrade) for all your health needs.

Autoimmune Hepatitis is the online portal for news, discussion, and treatment for sufferers of autoimmune hepatitis and related conditions.

A non-profit organization, we exist to pool all the resources available to help readers manage the disease to live healthy and normal lives.

Our philosophy is not to reject any treatments - be they situated in western medicine, alternative medicine, or simply from a patient’s own experience. Our aim is to present members a largest possible bank of information, so that they have the tools needed to take their healing into their own hands.

To start, why not join (always free of charge), or browse our treatment and information banks, or resource lists. And please bookmark us to return for more treatments, and to contribute.