One of the 5 major underlying causes of AD is stress. Stress produces inflammation. The adrenal glands, which are part of the endocrine system, produce catabolic/destructive hormones when it responds to physical, mental, and emotional stress. These hormones are cortisol, a long acting destructive/catabolic hormone, and adrenaline and noradrenaline: two short acting destructive, catabolic hormones. These catabolic, destructive hormones produce inflammation in every cell in the body they come in contact with. This includes our immune cells, the cells that produce immune cells, the tissues and glands where the immune cells reside such as the thymus gland, bone marrow, and the Peyer patches in the intestines.
Damage to our immune system from these catabolic/destructive hormones cause the immune system to malfunction and become either hyperactive or hypoactive. Autoimmune diseases can occur when the immune system is chronically hyperactive. At the Restore To Health Naturopathic Clinic and Wellness Center, Dr. Jenkins offers natural therapies to combat stress and balance the endocrine and immune systems. Dr. Jenkins can order Adrenal Stress Index Tests and other Functional Medicine tests to determine the health and function of these systems in order to correctly diagnose your problems.