Autoimmune Disorders:
Alternative Approaches
Any medical approach for treatment should be well researched for the individual's unique set of health issues to avoid the development of secondary symptoms and side effects. While the alternative approaches emphasize pain management, there is also a focus on treating the underlying causes of symptoms. One aspect of alternative therapies is that they provide a means for both physical and mental healing, which is often of great importance to patients who live with autoimmune disorders.
Massage Therapy
Research has shown that massage can alleviate pain, increase alertness and reduce levels of circulating stress hormones. Massages effect on lower back pain is also promising, at least as effective as acupuncture or self education approaches in reducing pain and increasing the ability to accomplish basic physical activities.
Rolfing
Dr. Ida Rolf began her inquiry into creating a holistic system of soft tissue manipulation and movement education that would organize the whole body with respect to gravity. She discovered that she could achieve remarkable changes in posture and structure by manipulating the body's myofascial system. She eventually named this system "structural integration," although some still refer to it as "Rolfing," after its founder.
Chiropractic Therapy
Chiropractors influence the bodys nervous and immune systems by adjusting the spine and joints, thereby alleviating pain and bettering general health. This field takes a holistic approach to health and illness, and encourages the bodys innate tendency towards health. Its effectiveness in administering to back pain, headaches, and other injuries and traumas has contributed to chiropractics place as the second largest primary health care field in the world.
Craniosacral Therapy
In this type of therapy, the bones of the skull are gently manipulated to alleviate a wide range of conditions, including headaches, ear infections, strokes, spinal cord injuries, and cerebral palsy. The craniosacral movement created by the rhythmical increase and decrease in cerebrospinal fluid causes a predictable movement of the cranial bones. A cranial therapist is trained to palpate this motion and diagnose the movement of the system as a whole by locating critical points of restriction in the cranium.
Osteopathy
Research supports the fact that osteopathy can help or resolve many health problems that fail to respond to conventional medicine. A few of the illnesses helped by osteopathic manipulation are spinal and joint conditions, arthritis, allergies, cardiac diseases, breathing dysfunctions, chronic fatigue syndrome, hiatal hernias, high blood pressure, headaches, digestive disorders, bladder and menstrual problems, prostate congestion, and numerous neuritis disorders.
Practitioners earn a doctor of osteopathy (D.O.) degree from one of the 19 accredited osteopathic medical schools in the United States. D.O.'s have the same scope of practice as allopathic doctors (M.D.'s), including the ability to prescribe drugs and perform surgery. D.O.'s and M.D.'s complete four years of basic medical education, complete an internship and a residency program, must pass the same or equivalent state licensing examinations, and practice side by side in fully accredited and licensed hospitals and medical centers.
| Disorders | Number Of Genes | Number Of Pub Med Identifiers |
| Arthritis, Rheumatoid | 1,987 | 80960 |
| Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 | 1,570 | 42,631 |
| Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic | 1,362 | 34,264 |
| Inflammatory Bowel Diseases | 1,222 | 38,699 |
| Multiple Sclerosis | 1,086 | 27,341 |
| Psoriasis | 1,078 | 20,624 |
| Pancreatitis | 931 | 32,832 |
| Crohn Disease | 869 | 20,486 |
| Colitis, Ulcerative | 792 | 19,959 |
| Scleroderma, Systemic | 662 | 11,866 |
| Encephalomyelitis, Autoimmune, Experimental | 635 | 5,550 |
| Sjogren's Syndrome | 611 | 7,427 |
| Graves Disease | 544 | 11,115 |
| Sarcoidosis | 535 | 16,812 |
| Anemia, Aplastic | 485 | 11,779 |
| Thyroiditis, Autoimmune | 469 | 5,480 |
| Myocarditis | 454 | 8,664 |
| Polyradiculoneuropathy | 430 | 10,219 |
| Glomerulonephritis, IGA | 407 | 3,304 |
| Celiac Disease | 398 | 10,402 |
| Lupus Nephritis | 398 | 2,530 |
| Myasthenia Gravis | 397 | 10,479 |
| Lymphopenia | 383 | 2,449 |
| Arthritis, Juvenile Rheumatoid | 381 | 6,211 |
| Spondylitis, Ankylosing | 331 | 8,700 |
| Dermatomyositis | 324 | 4,774 |
| Cushing Syndrome | 323 | 9,486 |
| Behcet Syndrome | 300 | 5,120 |
| Rheumatic Fever | 275 | 16,867 |
| Glomerulonephritis, Membranous | 264 | 1,483 |
| Pemphigus | 251 | 5,377 |
| Wegener's Granulomatosis | 238 | 4,309 |
| Multiple Sclerosis, Relapsing-Remitting | 233 | 1,010 |
| Vasculitis, Central Nervous System | 231 | 4,263 |
| Antiphospholipid Syndrome | 227 | 3,900 |
| Anemia, Hemolytic, Autoimmune | 219 | 4,024 |
| Purpura, Thrombocytopenic, Idiopathic | 219 | 2,475 |
| Cholangitis, Sclerosing | 217 | 1,684 |
| Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome | 217 | 3,061 |
| Raynaud Disease | 211 | 5,203 |
| Pemphigoid, Bullous | 204 | 1,939 |
| Vitiligo | 204 | 2,497 |
| Hepatitis, Autoimmune | 195 | 1,028 |
| Temporal Arteritis | 176 | 3,784 |
| Thyrotoxicosis | 164 | 2,328 |
| Cryoglobulinemia | 162 | 1,839 |
| Guillain Barre Syndrome | 162 | 1,582 |
| Anti-Glomerular Basement Membrane Disease | 152 | 1,487 |
| Mixed Connective Tissue Disease | 142 | 1,212 |
| Polyarteritis Nodosa | 136 | 4,830 |
| Addison Disease | 135 | 3,547 |
| Multiple Sclerosis, Chronic Progressive | 133 | 519 |
| Polyendocrinopathies, Autoimmune | 126 | 444 |
| Narcolepsy | 122 | 1,975 |
| Takayasus Arteritis | 118 | 1,919 |
| Neuritis, Autoimmune, Experimental | 115 | 395 |
| Polymyalgia Rheumatica | 110 | 1,725 |
| Dermatitis Herpetiformis | 107 | 2,181 |
| Menieres Disease | 107 | 305 |
| Menieres Disease | 78 | 2,129 |
| Myelitis, Transverse | 78 | 860 |
| Lichen Sclerosus et Atrophicus | 77 | 421 |
| Churg Strauss Syndrome | 75 | 940 |
| Reiter Disease | 72 | 2,247 |
| Goodpasture Syndrome | 68 | 1,315 |
| Uveomeningoencephalitic Syndrome | 62 | 518 |
| Felty's Syndrome | 58 | 581 |
| Myasthenia Gravis, Autoimmune, Experimental | 51 | 95 |
| Polychondritis, Relapsing | 51 | 832 |
| Still's Disease, Adult-Onset | 48 | 477 |
| Encephalomyelitis, Acute Disseminated | 47 | 1,016 |
| Lupus Vasculitis, Central Nervous System | 47 | 204 |
| Lambert-Eaton Myasthenic Syndrome | 40 | 460 |
| Neuromyelitis Optica | 40 | 232 |
| Epidermolysis Bullosa Acquisita | 33 | 233 |
| Stiff-Person Syndrome | 32 | 291 |
| Pemphigus, Benign Familial | 29 | 148 |
| Ophthalmia, Sympathetic | 28 | 520 |
| Leukoencephalitis, Acute Hemorrhagic | 10 | 128 |
Autoimmune Disorder Information: Dr. Ray Sahelian - Autoimmune Disorders
Autoimmune Disorder Information: Sjogren's - Autoimmune Disorder
Autoimmune Disorder Information: Dr. Ben Kim 7/27/2009 - Root Causes Of Autoimmune Illness
