For signs and symptoms of an autoimmune disease that you're specifically interested in, please click here to see our list of links below for each disorder.

Highly Recommended: One thing we recommend for anyone who is experiencing autoimmune symptoms is to have a hair tissue mineral analysis (HTMA) to test for heavy metal toxicity. Studies have shown that metals such as mercury, cadmium and lead have been associated with the development of the autoimmune diseases scleroderma, lupus, autoimmune hepatitis, multiple sclerosis, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, Graves disease, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, pernicious anemia, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and type 1 diabetes.

Mercury, in particular, directly damages our tissues, making them look foreign to the immune system. This is why it is crucial to assess your potential toxin exposure and take as many steps as possible to remove the toxins from your body and your environment.

For more information on the hair tissue mineral analysis, scoll down the page or click here. Also visit our page on Is it Autoimmune Disease or Is It Heavy Metal Toxicity!

Extreme Fatigue - Or, the kind of fatigue that is not alleviated by rest. This is experienced almost universally by autoimmune disease sufferers.

Muscle and Joint Pain - Whether it be general pain, burning, aching and soreness in the muscles or joint pain or aches, this symptom can also be found in almost every autoimmune disease.

Muscle Weakness - Feeling weak, particularly in the muscles, and loss of hand or arm or leg /thigh strength is a common symptom.

Swollen Glands - These can be all over the body, but especially in the throat area, under the arms, and at the top of the legs in the groin area.

Inflammation - Inflammation is a part of every autoimmune disorder. The warning sign of pain, especially when chronic, is a sign that something needs immediate attention.

Susceptibility to Infections - Autoimmune disease symptoms include frequent colds, bladder infections, ear infections, sore throat, sinus problems and yeast infections are common, with a slower recovery time, for people with autoimmunity.

Sleep Disturbances - Difficulty falling asleep and/or frequent waking is experienced by almost everyone with an autoimmune disorder.

Weight Loss or Gain - Changes in weight, typically in the 10 to 15 pound range, is often a sign of numerous autoimmune diseases.

Low Blood Sugar - A sign of adrenal fatigue, common in many autoimmune disorders.

Blood Pressure Changes - Most people have low blood pressure, though some have high blood pressure. Feelings or dizziness or vertigo, fainting, palpitations and fluctuations in heart rate.

Candida Yeast Infections - Virtually all autoimmune diseases have this in common. Can manifest as digestive disturbances, sinus infections, vaginal yeast infections or thrush.

Allergies - Many people with autoimmune disorders have numerous extreme food, chemical and environmental allergies and sensitivities.

Digestive Problems - Abdominal pain, bloating, tenderness, heartburn, cramps, constipation, diarrhea and excessive gas (looks like you're three months pregnant) reflect a condition known as "leaky gut syndrome", common with many autoimmune diseases.

Anxiety and Depression - Mood and emotional changes, panic attacks and excessive irritability are common symptoms in most autoimmune conditions.

Memory Problems - Often known as "brain fog", is a common autoimmune disease symptom that appears in most conditions.

Thyroid Problems - Many people have hypothyroidism, though some are hyperthyroid. Often this does not show up on a typical thyroid test. Can manifest as low body temperature and excessive hair loss.

Re-Current Headaches - Can manifest as migraines or severe headaches in some people.

Low Grade Fevers - This is very common, with some people experiencing this every day.

Pre-menstrual Syndrome - Autoimmune disease symptoms often increase around the menstrual cycle. Extreme bloating, painful cramps, heavy bleeding and irregular cycle are common.

Re-Current Miscarriage - This is a very common symptom in many autoimmune diseases.

As you can see, this is an extensive list of autoimmune disease symptoms and it may be hard to believe that these symptoms are in any way connected. You are probably not experiencing all of these signs or symptoms (at least we hope not), but if you are experiencing many of them, you're not alone.

We believe that more and more people are realizing that there is a connection between their various symptoms and illnesses, and this is the theory that is followed by most alternative health specialists.

Unfortunately, many medical professionals still treat the body like it is a conglomeration of separate symptoms, which is not working out too well for many autoimmune disease patients. We are not saying this to criticize the medical community, we are simply stating a fact. We strongly believe that the symptoms of any autoimmune disease affect the whole body, and consequently the body needs to be treated as a whole.

If you treat only individual autoimmune disease symptoms, you may experience periods of remission for a while, but in our opinion and experience it is extremely difficult to get truly well unless you get to the source of the problem and treat the body as a whole.

Autoimmune - The Cause and The Cure identifies the cause and the cure for a wide range of autoimmune disorders including: Chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, lupus, Sjogren's, rheumatoid arthritis, Raynaud's, rosacea, myasthenia gravis, Hashimoto's, type 2 diabetes, multiple sclerosis and more.

Written by Anness Brockley and Kristin Urdiales, this book is a must read which has brought together scientific research from around the world, which uncovers the cause of autoimmune disease. This collective evidence offers valid proof, not only of the cause of autoimmune disease, but also the only possible way to cure it. Every symptom of autoimmune disease can now be clearly and traced back to its origin.

Recently, there has been a sudden explosion of interest in a glucoside extract which comes from the white peony root.

This extract has been shown effective in treating autoimmune disease symptoms by bringing a dysfunctional, over-excited immune system back into balance.

Peony glucosides are extracted from the root of the peony flower. Unlike the dangerous drugs used to treat autoimmune disorders, peony glucosides work to simultaneously suppress excessive harmful immune functions while also boosting calming immune components.

The multiple mechanisms of action include immuno-modulatory properties and the reduction of inflammation-promoting molecules that are typically eleveated in autoimmune diseases.

According to the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association (AADRA), there are approximately 80 - 100 conditions that are autoimmune related. The following is a list of 50 of the more common auotimmune disorders. For information on signs and symptoms of each, and for helpful books and resources, click on the link of the disease you're wanting to know about.

• Addison's Disease
• Alopecia
• Ankylosing Spondylitis
• Antiphospolipid Syndrome (APS)
• Autoimmune Hepatitis
• Behcet's Disease
• Bullous Pemhigoid
• Castleman's Disease
• Celiac Disease
• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
• Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Neuropathy (CIDP)
• Churg Strauss Syndrome
• Crohn's Disease
• Endometriosis
• Fibromyalgia
• Giant Cell Arteritis
• Glomerulonephritis (Autoimmune Kidney Disease)
• Graves' Disease
• Guillain-Barre Syndrome
• Hashimoto's Thyroiditis
• Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis
• IgA Nephropathy
• Interstitial Cystitis
• Kawasaki Disease
• Lichen Planus
• Lupus
• Meniere's Disease
• MCTD
• Myasthenia Gravis
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Narcolepsy
• Pemphigus
• Pernicious Anemia
• Polyarteritis Nodosa
• Polymositis
• Primary Billary Cirrhosis
• Psoriasis
• Raynaud's Phenomenon Disease
• Reiter's Syndrome
• Rheumatoid Arthritis
• Sarcoidosis
• Scleroderma or CREST Syndrome
• Silicone Immune Toxicity Syndrome
• Sjogren's Syndrome
• Stiff-Man Syndrome
• Type 1 Diabetes
• Ulcerative Colitis
• Vascular Dementia
• Vasculitis
• Vitiligo
• Wegener's Granulomatosis

If you are experiencing autoimmune disease symptoms, then check out the common toxins that you may be exposed to, both at home and at work, and take steps to reduce your exposure or eliminate them as much as possible.

• Mercury amalgam fillings
• Pharmaceutical medications
• Recreational drugs
• Cigarettes
• Alcohol
• Caffeine
• Pesticides
• Insecticides
• Food additives
  
• Processed foods
• Artificial sweeteners
• Sodas
• Perfumes and synthetic fragrances
• Household cleansers
• Tap water
• Laundry detergent
• Air fresheners

The heavy metals that most commonly cause poisoning are iron, lead, cadmium (found in cigarettes), arsenic and mercury.

Others include aluminum, antimony, chromium, cobalt, copper, manganese, nickel, selenium, tin, thallium and uranium.

Other sources of poisoning include pesticides, insecticides, fungicides, chemical warfare, radiation and common chemicals such as benzene, carbon dioxide, chloroform, dichlorobenzene, DDT, formaldehyde, hexane, toluene, trichloroethylene (TCE) and xylene.

Tests that help to diagnose metal and chemical toxicity include blood tests, urine tests, and the analysis of hair, nails or other tissues. The most accurate of these are a chelation challenge test or a hair mineral analysis.

Regular blood tests and urine tests are not accurate in diagnosing heavy metal toxicity, as they only tend to show what is happening in the body at that brief moment in time, and do not give the long-term picture.

This makes sense since the body works hard to keep the levels of nutrients in the bloodstream within fairly tight limits. If large fluctuations in mineral levels occurred, serious illness or even death would result.

A chelation challenge test needs to be performed by a doctor who specializes in chelation therapy. The patient is given a chelating drug, commonly DMPS or DMSA, and the patient's urine is collected and analyzed over a 24 hour period. This test is a highly accurate way of knowing just what heavy metals are present in the body.

The drawbacks to this method are that it requires a visit to a health care professional's office, it is expensive, and there is a possibility of side effects to the chelating drugs.

A hair mineral analysis is an excellent alternative way of determining what toxic metals are present in the body. In addition, it also measures the levels of essential minerals in the body, such as calcium, magnesium and zinc, and toxic metal and mineral ratios. This test can provide you with much-needed information about mineral deficiencies and imbalances in your body, especially if you're suffering from symptoms of autoimmune disease.

A tissue mineral analysis or hair analysis provides a unique reading of heavy metal and mineral levels in the cells over a two to three month period. It takes into consideration that toxins are stored in the tissues of the body, not in the blood. For instance, you can have normal copper levels in the blood, but high copper levels in the tissues. The reason hair is used for testing mineral status and metabolic activity is because of its very nature.

Our hair is formed from clusters of specialized cells that make up the hair follicle. During the growth phase, the hair is exposed to the internal environment such as blood, lymph and extra-cellular fluids. As the hair continues to grow and reaches the surface of the skin, its outer layers harden, locking in the metabolic products accumulated during the period of formation.

This biological processs provides a blueprint and lasting record of metal content and nutritional metabolic activity that has occured during this time.

The precise analytical method of determining the levels of minerals in the hair is a highly sophisticated technique: when performed to exacting standards and interpreted correctly, it may be used as a screening aid for determining mineral deficiencies, excesses, and/or imbalances. HTMA provides you and your healthcare professional with an economical and sensitive indicator of the long-term effects of diet, stress, toxic metal exposure and their effects on your mineral balance that is difficult to obtain through other clinical tests.

It is important for the attending healthcare professional to determine your mineral status as minerals are absolutely critical for life and abundant health. They are involved in and are necessary for cellular metabolism, structural support, nerve conduction, muscular activity, immune functions, anti-oxidant and endocrine activity, enzyme functions, water and acid/alkaline balance and even DNA function.

Many factors can affect mineral nutrition, such as: food preparation, dietary habits, genetic and metabolic disorders, disease, medications, stress, environmental factors, as well as exposure to heavy metals. Rarely does a single nutrient deficiency exist in a person today. Multiple nutritional imbalances however are quite common, contributing to an increased incidence of adverse health conditions. In fact, it is estimated that mild and sub-clinical nutritional imbalances are up to ten times more common than nutritional deficiency alone.

To get an idea of how helpful a hair tissue analysis can be, think about this: Researchers using tissue mineral analysis determined, more than 100 years after Napoloen Bonaparte's death, that he had been poisoned by arsenic. Even though his hair sample was tested more than a century after his death, it still revealed pathological amounts of arsenic that had gradually proved fatal.

A hair analysis usually needs to be obtained through a health care professional (which can be expensive). However, we offer a service that allows you to get a comprehensive hair tissue mineral analysis from a federally licensed laboratory called Trace Elements, Inc.

Each hair analysis contains a detailed 10-15 page report from the laboratory itself, which shows bar graph readings indicating high, low and reference range levels for toxic metals, essential minerals and significant mineral ratios.

Unlike some labs that test hair tissue analysis, Trace Elements, Inc. does not wash the hair at the lab. Washing the hair removes some of the loosely bound minerals and can reduce some mineral readings by 50 percent or more. The hair sample is prepared in their licensed clinical laboratory by using a series of chemical and high temperature digestive procedures. Testing is then performed using highly sophisticated detection equipment and methods to achieve the most accurate and precise results.

The Comprehensive Hair Tissue Analysis report details graph results for 8 toxic heavy metals/elements, 15 nutritional minerals/elements, 15 additional elements, 7 significant mineral ratios, and 9 toxic metal ratios. Once you purchase the hair analysis from us, we send you a hair sample kit with instructions on how to take the hair sample.

To view a sample of the bar graph measurements for each mineral element and significant ratios, click here or the bar graph images above.

Nutritional Elements: Extensively studied, the nutrient elements have been well defined and are considered essential for many biological functions in the human body. They play key roles in such metabolic processes such as muscular activity, endocrine function, reproduction, skeletal integrity, and overall development.

Toxic Elements: The toxic elements or "heavy metals" are well-known for their interference upon normal biochemical function. They are commonly found in the environment and therefore are present to some degree, in all biological systems. However, these metals clearly pose a concern for toxicity when accumulation occurs to excess.

Additional Elements: These elements are considered as possibly essential by the human body. Additional studies are being conducted to better define their requirements.

Significant Ratios: If the synergistic relationship (or ratio) between certain minerals in the body is disturbed, studies show that normal biological functions and metabolic activity can be adversely affected. Even at extremely low concentrations, the synergistic and/or antagonistic relationships between minerals still exist, which can indirectly affect metabolism.

Toxic Ratios: It is important to note that individuals with elevated toxic levels may not always exhibit clinical symptoms associated with those particular toxic minerals. However, research has shown that toxic minerals/metals can also produce an antagonistic effeect on various essential minerals, eventually leading to distrubances in their metabolic utilization.

To view a sample of the detailed explanation of results patient report, please click here. For a complete overview of the various sections covered in the Comprehensive Hair Analysis Report, please click here.

To view complete details of the elements measured and to order the Comprehensive Hair Mineral Analysis, please click here.

For a list of FAQ’s about hair analysis, please click here.

Once you purchase the hair analysis from us, we send you a hair sample kit with instructions on how to take the hair sample. You then send the hair sample to the Trace Elements lab, and the lab sends us the detailed report/results, which we then mail to you (there is an option for emailing the results as well to save time).

• Living Well with Autoimmune Disease: What Your Doctor Doesn't Tell You...That You Need to Know by Mary J. Shomon
• The Autoimmune Connection: Essential Information for Women on Diagnosis, Treatment, and Getting On With Your Life by Rita Baron-Faust
• What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About(TM): Autoimmune Disorders: The Revolutionary Drug-free Treatments for Thyroid Disease, Lupus, MS, IBD, Chronic Fatigue, Rheumatoid Arthritis, and Other Diseasesby Stephen Edelson
• The Bible Cure Autoimmune Disease by Don Colbert

What is Autoimmune Disease?
Autoimmunity is, simply put, the process by which the immune system attacks its own healthy tissues and organs.
More Details

Causes of Autoimmune Disease
Autoimmune diseases do not have one specific cause; rather, there seems to be a combination of factors involved.
More Details

Symptoms of Autoimmune Disease
Although the different autoimmune diseases vary widely in terms of symptomology, the following are the most commonly experienced symptoms.
More Details

Sterols and Sterolins
These immune supplements have been shown in clinical trials to have anecdotal usage to provide nutritional support for autoimmune diseases.
More Details

Author's Autoimmune Disease Experience
Author shares her own personal experiences with autoimmune diseases and how she found her way back to health.
More Details

Resources and Consultants
This page lists some autoimmune disorder resources and consultants that may be helpful to you.
More Details