Immune System
Infection as a Cause of Hives
When working with Urticaria, it’s important to dig deeper into the root cause. Understanding why a person has urticaria may help shape our treatment philosophy. One possible factor is infection. Role of Infections in Spontaneous Acute Urticaria Acute Urticaria is the case where symptoms lasts less than 6 weeks. Acute urticaria is a classic presentation…
Read MoreHow to Correct Th2 Dominance
This article discusses how to correct Th2 Dominance. Th2 describes a subset of special cells involved in the immune system. For the basics of Th1 and Th2 dysregulation and how it pertains to the immune system, click here. If you have chronic urticaria, you’re likely Th1 dominant. Click here to learn more. A Quick Review As…
Read MoreHow to Correct Th1 Dominance
Do This If You Have Organ Specific Autoimmune Disease. If you’re Th2 dominant, click here. For the basics of Th1 and Th2 dysregulation and how it pertains to the immune system, click here. A Quick Review As a reminder from my previous articles, Th1 dominant responses often relate to organ specific autoimmune disease whereas Th2…
Read MoreInflammation is Controlled by Cytokines
What are Cytokines? Cytokines are a group of proteins, peptides and glycoproteins produced by specific cells of the immune system. They are signalling molecules that control and regulate immunity, inflammation and hematopoiesis. Through various mechanisms, cytokines are involved in the pathogenesis of acute and chronic urticaria. Where are Cytokines Produced? Cytokines are produced by a…
Read MoreErythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR): Testing for Inflammation
To Summarize: Inflammation can affect and drive many diseases, including certain autoimmune disease like urticaria ESR stands for Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate ESR is a marker of systemic inflammation It represents how sticky our Red blood cells are ESR will identify the presence of inflammation, but will not tell what specifically is causing the inflammation Erythrocyte…
Read MoreBalancing Th1 and Th2 for Immune Function
This article is Part 2 of a series on how Th1 and Th2 may affect immune function, chronic urticaria. Part 1 focused on what Th1 and Th2 are, and how they work in health and disease. Click here to read that article. Articles 3 and 4 will give you specific treatment ideas for Th1 dominance…
Read MoreThe Roles of TH1 and TH2 On Immune Function and Autoimmune Disease
Our immune system is quite complicated, with many factors at play. One aspect of any immune disease (chronic urticaria, autoimmune, allergies, asthma etc) is the relationship between Th1 and Th2. To simplify any immune condition to my patients, I use a simple balance-scale analogy to describe the impact of Th1 and Th2, which will be…
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