Immune Dysregulation

The immune system is how the body defends itself from harmful substances in the environment.

Although there are many environmental factors that contribute to chronic illness in children, one of the most important outcomes of all these environmental influences is immune dysregulation.

A dysregulated immune system simply means that an individual’s immune system is not working properly.

Examples of Immune Dysregulation

Here are some examples of what happens when an immune system malfunctions:

  • It can over-react to innocuous stimulus (like cat dander) and cause symptoms like sneezing or itching.
  • It can attack its host’s own cells and tissues (like what happens in an arthritic joint).  This is called autoimmunity.
  • It does not have the ability to detoxify and eliminate harmful substances that enter the body.
  • It cannot effectively combat pathogenic (disease-causing) microbes (germs!) that invade the body.
  • It can keep the body in a heightened state of “attack” causing inflammation and oxidative stress which can lead to disruptions in cellular functions and operations.

Symptoms of Immune Dysregulation

Because a dysregulated immune system is unable to protect a body from harmful environmental influences, it unleashes a cascade of harmful effects upon the body, often resulting in inflammatory or gastrointestinal symptoms.

Many of our children live with chronic infections in their ears, sinuses, and gastrointestinal systems, yet because their immune systems are dysregulated, they are unable to effectively “kick out” these infections.

For example, the following symptoms, displayed chronically, may indicate that your child’s immune system is not effectively handling certain types of immunological assaults (infections):

  • Recurrent ear infections
  • Chronic runny nose or cough
  • Chronic or recurrent sinus infections/strep infections
  • Chronically swollen lymph nodes
  • Chronic vaginal infections and/or urinary tract infections
  • Chronic athletes foot, ringworm or other fungal skin infections
  • Chronic thrush infections

Learn more about these and other soft signs of a dysregulated immune system.

More often than not, we do not even know that they have these infections because they do not show up on any conventional medical tests, and the early signs associated with these infections can be subtle and easily confused for some other medical or mental health problem.

When a body lives in a state of chronic infection, a whole cascade of physiological problems can unfold.

For example, immune dysregulation can lead to chronic inflammation which can destroy cells and tissues in all parts of the body (including the brain, liver, pancreas, lungs, and kidneys).

Chronic immune stimulation can lead to mitochondrial dysfunction.

Causes of Immune Dysregulation

Although it is not often discussed, modern industrial living has deeply impacted the functioning of our immune systems. Our children, who are among the most vulnerable, are showing the most obvious signs of an epidemic of dysregulated immune function.

Modern living has made our immune systems less capable of tolerating toxic exposures, immunological assaults (such as pathogenic infections), but it has also made our systems hyper-reactive (as you see with allergic-type reactions).

Immune dysregulation can be caused by a number of factors including:

How Can I Help My Child’s Immune System Return to a State of Balance?

  • Green your child’s life. Try to remove environmental exposures that may exacerbate immune dysregulation including:
    • Household toxins (detergents, cleaners, flame retardants, paints, fertilizers, pesticides, perfumes, fragrances, PVC, BPA, etc.).
    • Heavy metal exposures
      • Lead:  Found in old paint, drinking water and soil.
      • Mercury: Found in water, air, soil, food such as fish, thimerosal, compact fluorescent light bulbs, light-up shoes and high fructose corn syrup.
      • Antimony:  Found in flame retardant cloth including most children’s pajamas, mattresses, foam changing pads, etc.
      • Arsenic: Found in most conventionally raised chicken, some older wooden playground equipment.
      • Many heavy metals can be found in our air, soil, and water due to industrial pollution.
    • Food toxins (pesticides from conventionally grown fruits and vegetables, processed foods, artificial sweeteners, high fructose corn syrup, genetically-modified organisms).
    • Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs): Evidence indicates that consumption of GMOs may impair gut and immune function.
    • Electromagnetic radiation (cell phones, wireless devices, computers, WiFi, cell towers)
  • Eat a clean diet. Serve your children nutritious, whole, organic/biodynamically-grown foods rather than processed, packaged foods. In the fruit and vegetable section of your supermarket, look for five-digit PLU numbers beginning with the #9, indicating that it is organic; those beginning with a #4 are conventionally grown, most often with pesticides.
  • Support good gut health by eating cultured foods, probiotics, low-sugar foods and low-refined carbohydrate diets.
  • Get outdoor exposure and vitamin D (from sunshine).
  • Encourage regular exercise.
  • Consider supporting cellular energy production and cellular detoxification with appropriate nutritional supplements (see an integrative healthcare provider).

 

Still Looking for Answers?

Visit the Epidemic Answers Practitioner Directory to find a practitioner near you.

Join us inside our online membership community for parents, Healing Together, where you’ll find even more healing resources, expert guidance, and a community to support you every step of your child’s healing journey.

Sources & References

Ashwood, P., et al. The immune response in autism: a new frontier for autism research. Journal of Leukocyte Biology. 2006 Jul;80(1):1-15.

Borchers, A.T., et al. Probiotics and immunity. Journal of Gastroenterology. 44 (2009): 26-46.

Connolly, A.M., et al. Serum autoantibodies to brain in Landau-Kleffner variant, autism, and other neurologic disorders. The Journal of Pediatrics. 1999 May;134(5):607-13.

Dale, R.C., et al. Encephalitis lethargica syndrome: 20 new cases and evidence of basal ganglia autoimmunity. Brain. 2004 Jan;127(Pt 1):21-33.

Galland, Leo. The Effect of Intestinal Microbes on Systemic Immunity. Excerpted from Power Healing. Random House, 1998.

Ganal-Vonarburg, S.C., et al. Microbial-host molecular exchange and its functional consequences in early mammalian life. Science. 2020 May 8;368(6491):604-607.

Hrncir, T., et al. Gut microbiota and lipopolysaccharide content of the diet influence development of regulatory T cells: studies in germ-free mice. BMC Immunology. 9 (2008): 65.

Johansson, O. Disturbance of the immune system by electromagnetic fields—A potentially underlying cause for cellular damage and tissue repair reduction which could lead to disease and impairment. Pathophysiology. 2009 Aug;16(2-3):157-177.

Jyonouchi, H., et al. Impact of innate immunity in a subset of children with autism spectrum disorders: a case control study. Journal of Neuroinflammation. 2008 Nov 21;5:52.

Kitano, H., et al. Robustness trade-offs and host-microbial symbiosis in the immune system. Molecular Systems Biology. 2 (2006).

Lancaster, K., et al. Abnormal social behaviors in young and adult rats neonatally infected with Borna disease virus. Behavioural Brain Research. 2007 Jan 10;176(1):141-8.

Liu, Z., et al. Tight junctions, leaky intestines, and pediatric diseases. Acta Paediatricia. 94 (2005): 386-393.

Mine, Y., et al. Surfactants Enhance the Tight-Junction Permeability of Food Allergens in Human Intestinal Epithelial Caco-2 Cells. International Archives of Allergy and Immunology. 2003 Feb;130(2):135-42.

Moser, L.A. Astrovirus Increases Epithelial Barrier Permeability Independently of Viral Replication. Journal of Virology. 2007 Nov;81(21):11937-45.

O’Hara, A.M., et al. The gut flora as a forgotten organ. European Molecular Biology Organization Report 7, no 7 (July 2006): 688-693.

Pessah, I.N., et al. Immunologic and neurodevelopmental susceptibilities of autism. Neurotoxicology. 2008 May;29(3):532-45.

Patterson, P.H. Immune involvement in schizophrenia and autism: etiology, pathology and animal models. Behav Brain Res. 2009 Dec 7;204(2):313-21.

Rautava, S., et al. The Development of Gut Immune Responses and Gut Microbiota: Effects of Probiotics in Prevention and Treatment of Allergic Disease. Current Issues in Intestinal Microbiology. 2002 Mar;3(1):15-22.

Samsel, A., et al. Glyphosate’s Suppression of Cytochrome P450 Enzymes and Amino Acid Biosynthesis by the Gut Microbiome: Pathways to Modern Diseases. Entropy. 2013, 15(4), 1416-1463.

Shi, L., et al. Activation of the maternal immune system alters cerebellar development in the offspring. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. 2009 Jan;23(1):116-23.

Strauch, U.G., et al. Influence of intestinal bacteria on induction of regulatory T cells: lessons from a transfer model of colitis. Gut 54 (2005):1546-1552.

Tobacman, J.K. Review of Harmful Gastrointestinal Effects of Carrageenan in Animal Experiments. Environmental Health Perspectives. 2001 Oct;109(10):983-94.

Vargas, D.L., et al. Neuroglial activation and neuroinflammation in the brain of patients with autism. Annals of Neurology. 2005 Jan;57(1):67-81.

Wexler, H. Bacteroides: the Good, the Bad, and the Nitty-Gritty. Clinical Microbiology Reviews 20, no. 4 (October 2007): 593-621.

Winter, C., et al. Dopamine and serotonin levels following prenatal viral infection in mouse—implications for psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and autism. European Neuropsychopharmacology. 2008 Oct;18(10):712-6.