Autoimmune Disease
Adrenal function plays an important role in moderating the inflammatory processes characteristic of autoimmune reactions.*
In autoimmunity, the white blood cells of the immune system attack one or more parts of the body as if their tissue cells were intruders. This creates inflammation in those tissues, with effects that can range from mild to life-threatening autoimmune disease.
The adrenal glands produce the hormone, cortisol, which normally exerts anti-inflammatory control over autoimmune reactions. However, in autoimmune disease, cortisol levels are inadequate for the degree of reaction taking place in the tissues being attacked.* This is one of the reasons why strong corticosteroids (prednisone, prednisolone, etc.) are used with all diseases involving inflammatory processes, including autoimmune diseases. These drugs imitate the anti-inflammatory effects of cortisol.
Cortisol not only affects the redness and swelling of inflammation, but also influences the activity of the white blood cells. It can be viewed as sustaining life through two opposite but related kinds of immune regulatory actions: releasing and activating existing immune defense mechanisms, and ‘damping down’ and modifying the same mechanisms to prevent them from overshooting and causing damage or cell death. Through this ‘damping down’ action, cortisol modulates the immune response, helping to reduce the amount of potentially toxic chemicals secreted by white blood cells that produce tissue inflammation. Cortisol is essential for protecting the body from autoimmune processes and uncontrolled inflammation.
Similarly, when the body is stressed, cortisol is also needed to restrain various physiological mechanisms to prevent them from damaging the body. However, if cortisol activity cannot increase adequately in response to stress, these unrestrained mechanisms can overshoot and damage tissues.* During adrenal fatigue, it is less likely that the adrenal glands can produce enough cortisol to adequately counter these stress mechanisms or autoimmune inflammatory reactions.*
