We have known since the early 1970s that infections can trigger autoimmune diseases and now we have an interesting hypothesis on the potential triggering of Hashimoto’s disease by COVID-19 infection.
COVID-19 can cause a hyperinflammatory state in the body which is a potential recipe for developing autoimmune disease. The authors begin by pointing out the most current literature on COVID-19 connections to the autoimmune diseases antiphospholipid syndrome, autoimmune thrombocytopenia, autoimmune hemolytic anemia, and Guillain-Barre syndrome.
The Therapeutic Effect of Cordyceps on Hashimomoto’s Disease and Graves’ Disease
In 2016, a clinical trial was conducted in China that aimed to investigate the therapeutic effect of cordyceps on Hashimoto’s disease and Graves’ disease.
The infection connection and Hashimoto’s disease is something I have been investigating since 2005 when I first learned about the connection between Yersinia enterocolitica and Hashimoto’s disease. Since then, I’ve been researching the infection connection to Hashimoto’s disease and science continues to shed more light on this area.
Epstein-Barr Virus or EBV is a herpes virus (Herpes 4) that is significantly connected to Hashimoto’s disease and many other autoimmune diseases. It is the most common infection I see in my patients with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. Testing for Epstein-barr virus is fairly straightforward but treatment can take a long time.
In this interview with Dr. Jeff Moss I discussed all of the health benefits and uses of monolaurin which is one of my favorite supplements for infections and healthy immune system function. The interview is about twenty minutes but it is packed with great information.
What is Monolaurin?
Monolaurin is a “monoester” formed from lauric acid which is a medium chain fatty acid. Monolaurin is the main antiviral and antibacterial found in human breast milk as well as in coconut. Monlaurin works well against certain viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites. Monolaurin has also been shown to improve immune system function in addition to its ability to target infections.
Curcumin is a powerful antioxidant derived from turmeric root used heavily in traditional Indian cuisine. Turmeric is a close relative of ginger which I use quite a bit to improve digestion and reduce inflammation.
Curcumin has a tremendous amount of research behind it and it is one of my favorite natural anti-inflammatories. But it’s powers don’t end with inflammation. Research has shown that curcumin has the following benefits:
In this interview I discuss the connection between Epstein-Barr Virus and Autoimmune Disease
You can listen to the interview above or read the transcript below:
Dr. Brady: Dr. Hedberg lectures all over the place, a lot of integrative medicine conferences. He’s published in many journals. He teaches advanced functional medicine courses with Functional Medicine Town, professional co-op and as adjunct faculty with Hawthorn University. Dr. Hedberg has found that many chronic diseases are a result of stealth infections and that’s what we’re going to focus on tonight. Basically, he’s also formed a website and a community known as “The Infection Connection” and I’ll have him tell you a little bit more about that later in the call. You can learn more at infectionconnection.net.
In this interview I discuss the connection between infections and autoimmune disease which I call the Infection Connection.
That being said, let’s get on with it. Let me introduce our speaker for tonight. Dr. Nikolas Hedberg is a good friend of mine. I’ve known Nik for, I think somewhere around 10 years now, we both went to one of the same schools in our careers, not at the same time, but we, I guess, met at a, I think, an internal disorder conference in New Orleans, I think was the first time about 10 years ago. I’ve followed Nik’s work and his career and he’s done some outstanding work. Nik is a board certified Chiropractic Internist by the American Board of Chiropractic Internists, he received his bachelor training in Exercise Science from the University of Florida, received his Doctor of Chiropractic from the Texas Chiropractic College in Houston. He currently practices in Asheville, North Carolina and focuses on Lyme disease, thyroid disorders and autoimmune disease. He’s the author of the book “The Complete Thyroid Health and Diet Guide“, which is a comprehensive guide to diagnosing and treating thyroid disorders. He lectures at a lot of integrated medicine conferences, and he’s published in a lot of journals. He teaches Functional Medicine concepts through many forms including Functional Medicine Town, Professional Co-op, and with Hawthorn University. His particular interests lately is the role of stealth infections in chronic disease and in that effort to get this message out, he’s created a program called “The Infection Connection” and does some online training in these concepts, and he’ll tell you more about that as the night goes on. Little known to everyone in the professional world but known to me, Nik is an accomplished opera singer actually, so you’ll hear that when you hear him talk, you can hear that come through in his voice. Anyway, Nik thank you for being on. I know you’ve been on Clinical Rounds before and thanks for coming back and being a guest again.
Read the transcript to this video below on what causes Alopecia areata and universalis:
Greetings, friends. This is Dr. Nik Hedberg and today I’m going to be taking about all the possible causes of alopecia areata and alopecia universalis. Autoimmune diseases are significantly on the rise, and alopecia can be a devastating condition, not only personally but also professionally. And there are a lot of holistic options out there for alopecia. And I’ve had some great success over the years identifying the underlying causes of alopecia and helping patients regrow their hair. So I wanted to share some of my knowledge about alopecia and what I’ve found to be, really, the main causes of alopecia. So I’ve created this diagram for you with all of the main potential causes of alopecia.
