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Let's talk about immune systems, shall we? Because while allergies and autoimmune diseases might seem like distant cousins at a family reunion, they're actually closer than you think. Both involve your body going on the defense against anything it deems “suspicious.”
For autoimmune disease sufferers, essentially what happens is that the proteins (i.e. antibodies) your immune system normally creates to fight viruses, cancer cells, and other toxins, end up confusing these invaders with healthy cells. Currently there are over 100 different autoimmune diseases out there that affect over 24 million people, and each disease has its own treatments, symptoms, and issues.
Some examples of known autoimmune diseases you’ve probably heard of are type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, IBD, psoriasis, alopecia areata, vitiligo, and more.
Now, compared to autoimmune diseases, allergies are when your body attacks something foreign, believing it is dangerous to the body. Typically food allergies are difficult to identify simply because they have a wide spectrum of symptoms and devastating long term effects on health. And while food allergies are not autoimmune diseases, both are characterized by a hyperactive immune response to something that our bodies shouldn’t be fighting.
While you may be thinking at this point that autoimmune diseases and allergies are quite different, that actually couldn’t be further from the truth, as stated by Erik Wambre, PhD: “They are all connected. It’s a mistake of your body’s own immune system, whether it’s autoimmunity or allergy.”
“It's a different flavor of response,” continues Steve Ziegler, PhD, “In autoimmunity, there is a different type of T-cell involved than in allergies. In an autoimmune response, tissue destruction occurs. With allergies, the immune system overreacts to harmless allergens. Interestingly, this is the same type of response that expels viruses, parasites, and bacteria from the body.”
When discussing people affected, about 20% of Americans have allergies, and 5-7% have an autoimmune disease. And actually, studies have shown that people with food allergies are actually predisposed to certain autoimmune conditions like alopecia areata. There’s also a study that links children with type 1 diabetes (an autoimmune disease) with dairy or gluten allergies.
And guess what? One of the most common food allergies, gluten intolerance, actually stems from an autoimmune disease called Celiac disease.
Some researchers have theorized that continuous exposure to allergens can actually trigger autoimmune responses for those who are predisposed to autoimmune disease. Essentially, you can think about it as if there is a different sized empty “bucket” inside of each person who has allergies. Every time a person with allergies is exposed to their allergen a little “drop” goes in the bucket. Once that person has had so many exposures that their bucket is filled, their autoimmune response is triggered, which can cause a variety of symptoms - i.e. hair loss for those with alopecia areata.
And then similarly, once you remove the allergens, it could be possible to reverse the symptoms of the autoimmune disorder. For example, my son Asher lost all of his hair by the time he was 2 and had severe eczema and psoriasis all over his body. We had no idea he was allergic to corn, and then once I figured it out and completely eliminated all corn derivatives from his diet, all of his hair grew back and his eczema and psoriasis completely vanished.
The takeaway? While the immune system's misdirected attacks play out differently in allergies and autoimmune diseases, they're not isolated incidents. Understanding this deeper connection could be the key to unlocking broader prevention and treatment strategies, offering hope to millions navigating the complexities of their immune responses.
