Breaking the vicious cycle
We don't call it holistic medicine for nothing, as the idea is to look at the person as a whole and not just at their symptoms. What I would like to offer you is an overall strategic approach that I have used to support clients getting off their prescription medication and back to good health. It is worth noting here that I have never taken anyone off their medications - they have chosen to do this themselves, or have been recommended to stop by their specialist.
I use a diagram to explain how I see the vicious cycle that needs to be broken, described below.
Initial trigger - as you are all well aware, no one is 100% sure of what triggers IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease) in the first place. There are, however, many recognised antagonists that can start triggering the worsening of the condition, such as food allergies, stress, and non-beneficial bacterial overgrowth. With treatment we aim to remove triggers at this level, to stop a cycle of further damage before it starts.
Inflammation - this is the start of the cycle, and of course the main problem with IBD. Inflammation in the walls of the digestive tract leads to pain, malabsorption of nutrients and poor osmosis, so water stays in the digestive system causing diarrhoea. It also causes damage to the tissues in the mucosal lining. The digestive system contains 70% of the immune system and provides a physical barrier against the outside world - it is selectively permeable, meaning only small particles of food and water should be able to pass through the walls.
If inflammation damages the walls it means that larger particles of food and other substances that would normally not get through are able to pass into the blood stream. This damage is commonly known as "leaky gut". When the substances that should not be in the blood stream are found by the immune system, which is on surveillance all the time, it mounts an attack on them, and antibodies may be created to new foods or substances.
Eventually, if the problem goes unchecked over time, the immune system becomes over alert and starts to attack the digestive tissues - causing more inflammation and more leaky gut, hence the vicious cycle.
Strategy
The key strategy is simply to:
- work with clients to identify which triggers may be contributing to the cycle and remove them, e.g. allergic or intolerant foods, candida
- reduce inflammation to prevent further damage to the digestive system - there are many anti-inflammatory foods, supplements and herbs that can be employed here
- repair the digestive system and, importantly, restore immunity within the digestive tract - for example building up good bacteria, removing parasites, increasing IgA, which provides the first line of immune defence in the digestive system
- balance immune response within the blood stream to stop it over reacting - there are several supplements and herbs that help to balance immunity rather than suppressing it
One person who followed this approach was Simon (pseudonym), who came to me after 5 years on immune suppressants. He still suffered from diarrhoea, pain and fatigue, but was able to maintain weight.
He was 41 at the time, and had been diagnosed and hospitalised with Crohn's when he was 18. He was very vigilant with dietary changes, removing his allergic foods, and used digestive repair powders alongside high doses of fish oil and herbal anti-inflammatories.
Coincidentally he saw his specialist three weeks into treatment and was taken off the immune suppressant, which alarmed me as it was so soon. However there were no negative effects, and treatment on high doses of supplements only lasted for 3 months. He now just takes fish oil and has his herbal supplements on hand in case of a flare up.
In summing up I will let Simon have the final word, which I think is very encouraging:
"Through diet and naturopathic remedies, my disease has been in remission for over a year. My specialist could not believe after my last check-up that there was no sign of Crohn's disease. He had to even double check with one of his colleagues, as the probability was less than 1% to be in remission for anyone having the disease for over 20 years." (Simon, 2009).
