Most of the chronic conditions we have today are an array of complex and very different diseases called Autoimmune Diseases. There are 80- 100 different autoimmune diseases with about half of these having blood tests for a doctor to identify. The incidence of autoimmune disease has increased over the last 25 years with a heavy burden to the health care system. As a physician who practices functional medicine as well as naturopathic medicine, I take entirely a different approach. I focus on the cause of the disease. All disease begins in the gut - the gateway to all disease. I will address the gut health in every patient .
I repair and restore the gut by using herbal teas, glutamine, and probiotics. I believe everyone should have a food sensitivity blood test, IgG RAST. I utilize an anti inflammatory dietary lifestyle. Most patients have a gluten and dairy sensitivity. The goal of treatment is to decrease any environmental toxins. There are ways in certain states to get these toxins tested.
There is a lot of research articles on the use of low dose naltrexone ( LDN) for autoimmune disease as well as for cancers and Lyme Disease. I usually start at 1.0 mg and titrate up to 4.5 mg if tolerated. It is usually tolerated without a problem. The only side effect I see at 3.0 mg and higher is the patient experiences some dreams.