Jacob Dlamini / Flickr)
For those who’ve never had a family history of autoimmune disease, the symptoms can be subtle.
“They can go away,” said Peter Naehring, M.D., a family physician and a researcher, “or when you first realize something is wrong, you don’t even have the symptoms.”
Naehring was first introduced to his father’s case when he was looking into a recent diagnosis of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. After interviewing his father and taking blood samples from his bones, the family doctor could find the first sign that something was wrong, Naehring said. Doctors also found that in his father’s brain, autoimmune disease had destroyed some neurons.
Even the symptoms are subtle, he said. For example, without a diagnosis for the disease it isn’t possible for people to have an autoimmune diagnosis, so the family doctors looked for other medical histories that would allow the diagnosis.
“It can be invisible,” Naehring said. “It’s always surprising to these doctors.”
In patients without autoimmune disease, the symptoms come and go. It’s difficult to understand why some people are so infrequently affected, Naehring said, “but when you have it, then you look for evidence that your body is taking in more nutrients than it should and causing your body to do these sorts of things.”
How does this connect to obesity?
When people eat too much or have problems with their ability to regulate their blood sugar levels, their immune system sends an inflammatory signal to parts of the brain, causing the body to produce proteins that damage the cell membranes, the main components of your body’s cells. The immune system also stimulates your pancreas to release insulin to help regulate your blood sugar. This can be the trigger that causes Type 2 diabetes — when your body’s ability to control its insulin levels are compromised.
The problem with the high blood sugar can come from both dietary and lifestyle factors, such as not being active enough, he said. But the biggest factor to blame is not diet or smoking, but the eating habits of our modern lifestyle, said Dr. Nils Bergmark, a family physician and an associate research professor of medicine at the University of Alberta in Edmonton.
“In this society we eat things you don’t realize you’re putting in your body, and if you’re overworking your body you