Naperville Integrated Wellness
NAPERVILLE'S TOP RATED LOCAL® FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE FACILITY
COVID-19 AND YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM: PART 2
Chronic Viruses (in your body now)
Autoimmunity
In Part 1 of this COVID-19 series, I discussed the COVID-19 virus and the vaccines for it. While this virus and its variants are a concern, I do not think we are looking at the big picture. For many, the virus has been the straw that broke the camel’s back so to speak. This is what the top functional medicine provider means by that…
COVID has pushed the immune system of many people over the edge. They already had several “immune stressors” in place before the 
COVID-19 appeared in their environment. What are some of these immune stressors? I’m glad you asked:
- Chronic viral infections. (Much more on this topic to come).
- Food sensitivities and food allergies.
- Living with extreme mental and emotional stress.
- Physiological stressors such as high blood sugar, insulin resistance, chronic inflammation, adrenal gland fatigue, hormonal imbalances…and on and on.
- Key nutrient deficiencies that the immune system requires to function properly.
- Leaky gut and other digestive system issues.
- Poor detoxification pathways in the body.
As a Chicago functional medicine doctor, I am considering the body as a whole…a web of related systems that ultimately determine the health of the body. Looking only at the COVID-19 virus is a very limited view of what is happening inside people’s bodies. I see it as yet another “immune system stressor” that has pushed many people over the edge. It has overwhelmed an immune system that was already working overtime.
“I did not have any health problems until COVID-19”
Maybe you were feeling pretty good before you got COVID or the vaccine. That does not mean all was well with your immune system. Many people assume that if they don’t get sick often, then they have a good immune system. This is not an accurate assumption.
Would you consider someone with an autoimmune disease like Hashimoto’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, or lupus to have a properly working immune system?
By definition, autoimmunity is an inappropriate immune response to the body. Most of my patients with autoimmune disease don’t get “sick” often.
Many people with allergies don’t get “sick” often either.
Most people have chronic virus in their body and assume their immune system is in tiptop shape.
The point I’m trying to make here is that our immune system has never been under so much stress.
I want to focus on some other viruses that you most likely have in your body right now and how they could make COVID-19 and possibly the vaccines for this virus a problematic trigger for your immune system and overall health.
Just to be clear I am not making an argument for or against the vaccines.
You have active viruses in hour body right now!
There are currently eight herpesviruses that are known to infect humans. Almost everyone has one or more herpes viruses living right now inside their body.
You have herpes…
- HSV-1 (herpes simplex 1) (oral herpes) …50-80% of adults.
- HSV-2 (herpes simplex 2) (genital herpes) …16% of adults.
- Varicella zoster virus (HHV-3/human herpes 3) (chickenpox virus/shingles) …95% of adults.
- Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) (HHV-4) (the “mono” / mononucleosis virus) …95%
- Cytomegalovirus (HHV- 5) …50-85% of adults.
- HHV-6 (human herpes 6) …90% of adults.
- HHV-7 (human herpes 7) … 89% of adults.
- Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (HHV-8)…1-5%
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/virus-spike-protein
What is Human Herpesvirus?
The herpesvirus family is a group of viruses that can infect both animals and humans. Over 130 species of herpesvirus are known, but only eight of these are known to infect humans. These, collectively, are known as human herpesvirus, or HHV.
https://ada.com/conditions/human-herpesvirus/
You probably have the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) statistics
- More than 95% of healthy adults have a “latent” or dormant infection of the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a type of herpes virus.
- When the scientists tested blood samples from some participants, they discovered that 66.7% (20 out of 30) of those with long COVID had a reactivated EBV infection.
- By contrast, only 10% (2 out of 20) of those who did not develop long COVID were positive for EBV reactivation.
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/long-covid-epstein-barr-virus-may-offer-clues
Illness and other stressors (like COVID or a vaccine) can reactivate the infection.
Epstein-Barr virus…Rheumatoid Arthritis, Multiple Sclerosis, Lupus, Scleroderma, Sjögren’s…
“Moreover, several systemic autoimmune diseases (SADs) and multiple sclerosis (MS) have been demonstrated to be associated with chronically relapsing EBV infection and inefficient immune control of the virus.
SADs are a group of partly overlapping syndromes, also called connective tissue diseases, since they often are accompanied by inflammation of connective tissues. The SADs include the relatively common rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and the more rare conditions Sjögren’s syndrome (SS), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), systemic scleroderma (SSc), and others.”
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2020.587380/full
EBV as trigger for multiple sclerosis
“Researchers found a consistent increase in MS risk associated with an increase in EBV antibodies in men and women, and those individuals with the highest levels of these antibodies had a 36-fold increased risk of MS as compared to those with the lowest.’
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/features/multiple-sclerosis-epstein-barr-virus-ascherio-munger/
Cytomegalovirus…50% to 85% of adults in the United States have been infected with the cytomegalovirus.
https://www.health.harvard.edu/a_to_z/cytomegalovirus-cmv-a-to-z
“Herpes 6…the prevalence of HHV-6 in adults is assumed to be over 90%…”
Roseola infantum, or sixth disease…human herpesvirus HHV-6 causes this contagious illness that mostly affects infants and toddlers. Adults are often immune after having the illness during childhood, but the virus remains in the body.
“A role for HHV-6 has been proposed in several autoimmune disorders, including multiple sclerosis (MS), autoimmune connective tissue diseases, and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.”
“HHV-7 is ubiquitous and infects more than 80% of children in infancy. HHV-7 is frequently shed in saliva at high levels throughout life in most adults and children.”
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/human-herpesvirus-
Oral Herpes…50% to 80% of American adults have oral herpes (HSV-1), which causes cold sores or fever blisters in or around the mouth.
Genital herpes, caused by HSV-1 or HSV-2, affects one out of every six people (16% in the U.S. age 14 to 49. Genital herpes infections can be asymptomatic or can show up as outbreaks of blisters or sores.
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/herpes-hsv1-and-hsv2
Chickenpox virus Varicella zoster virus (HHV-3)…
Shingles, or Herpes Zoster, is the “reawakening” of the Chicken Pox virus, which could become a serious complication for those with autoimmune diseases.
https://www.hopkinsrheumatology.org/rheumtv/shingles-autoimmune-disease/
“More than 95 percent of American adults have had chickenpox and about 4,000,000 people get chickenpox every year.”
“Postherpetic neuralgia, acute encephalitis, aseptic meningitis and myelitis are the most frequent diseases and have been recorded both in association with herpes zoster.”
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9450225/
Autoimmune Diseases and COVID-19
Autoimmune diseases by the numbers
100+AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES ARE A GROUP OF MORE THAN 100 CHRONIC CONDITIONS.
24MM IN THE U.S., AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES AFFECT MORE THAN 24 MILLION PEOPLE, WHILE 8 MILLION MORE HAVE AUTO-ANTIBODIES.
5-10% AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES CLUSTER – 5-10% OF AMERICANS HAVE MORE THAN ONE AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE.
80% APPROXIMATELY 80% OF ALL PATIENTS DIAGNOSED WITH AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES ARE WOMEN.
https://autoimmune.org/resource-center/about-autoimmunity/
24 million Americans are believed to have an autoimmune disease and 8 million more have antibodies against their own bodies (but not diagnosed with an autoimmune disease).
That means 32 million Americans have an immune system that is attacking their bodies. This is occurring in 1 in every 10 Americans.
The Census Bureau says the population of the United States is 331,449,281. April 26, 2021
“In a small study, about half of people hospitalized with COVID-19 had antibodies in their blood that could mistakenly attack the body’s own proteins and tissues.”
Also known as an autoimmune response.
“A recent study found that autoantibodies that existed before infection with SARS-CoV-2 may account for 20% or more of serious or fatal COVID-19 cases. Scientists have wondered if infection with SARS-CoV-2 could also result in the production of autoantibodies in people who didn’t have them before they got sick.”
https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/autoimmune-response-found-many-covid-19
Putting it all together…
Ok, so what does all this mean for you?
I could go on and on, citing statistics and studies, but let’s step back and see how we can use this information.
We know COVID-19 and the vaccines for it can aggravate and stress the immune system. You can catch COVID and get sick and make antibodies. You can also get the vaccinated and get sick or not get sick and make antibodies. Vaccines, like the virus itself are not without potential consequence because they challenge your immune system. The virus can trigger adverse immune reactions and so can the vaccines.
Here is the real question however…
Was COVID or the vaccines the root cause of a devastating response or long COVID, or were they just the last straw for that person’s immune system?
We have many other stressors on our immune system.
- Other viruses that can become activated and trigger inappropriate immune reactions to COVID or vaccines.
- Autoimmune diseases that may have been pre-existing to that have newly developed.
- Psychological stressors…dealing with the pandemic itself and how it has changed our lives can put us at greater risk from the virus or the vaccines.
- Poor diet, food sensitivities and food allergies.
- Poor lifestyle habits since the pandemic…less exercise, more alcohol, weight gain…etc.
- Nutrient deficiencies that support proper immune system function.
You get the idea…
It is my belief that our best defense against COVID-19, its variants and any vaccines that come along is to focus on supporting our immune systems.
You have probably heard of people who caught COVID and never had a symptom or someone who has had all their vaccines and booster shots and feel just fine. So, what makes these people different than those who had adverse responses?
It was how their immune system responded to the virus or the vaccine.
We can obsess about getting infected or whether to get vaccinated or how many booster shots to get and how often.
Or we can take steps to support our immune system. Immune system support will help you regardless of your personal choices and opinions about the virus, vaccines, mandates…
You can’t go wrong by taking better care of your overall health and how your immune system is working. Your immune system has basically 2 major functions.
- Protect the body (like killing or suppressing viruses)
- Healing the body
Stay tuned for Part 3 of this series! Your immune system can save your life or take it from you. It is a powerful force and very complex. In Part 3 of this series, our functional medicine doctor near Chicago will discuss how functional medicine works with the immune system so that is responds the way it should…protecting you and healing you.
The purpose of functional medicine is:
Understanding how the body works, knowing how and where to investigate health issues, knowing what to look for, understanding the significance of what is found and creating a plan of action to reverse and correct the root cause the health problems.
My wish for you…health, happiness and a better quality of life!
If you would like more information about functional medicine and integrative medicine or Dr. Sexton go to napervilleintegratedwellness.com
Do your own research, inform yourself and ask lots of questions. When collecting information, you MUST consider the source. There is no shortage of false, misleading, outdated, profit-driven and utterly biased information in healthcare today; even from the most respected sources and organizations.
This approach to healthcare is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, mitigate, or prevent any disease. This article is for information purposes and is not a substitute professional healthcare services. Contact our office for more information.