How Pathogens Trick the Immune System Into Autoimmunity
- shelleybholisticnu
- 3 minutes ago
- 1 min read
This is one of the most well-documented mechanisms behind autoimmune disease.
Here’s how it plays out
The immune system targets an invader…
but the proteins on that invader look almost identical to your own tissues.
So the immune response gets confused and the attack doesn’t shut off.
Examples we see in the research:
• Viruses like EBV linked to MS-like immune responses
• Bacteria like strep triggering rheumatic fever
• Parasites, which can:
– Mimic gluten proteins, contributing to gluten sensitivity
– Skew the immune system toward allergic responses like pollen allergies
– Resemble pancreatic tissue linked to Type 1 diabetes mechanisms
The immune system isn’t broken.
It’s responding to something it thinks is still there.
When the trigger is addressed, the immune response often has room to calm.
If this resonates, I share more on parasites, immune confusion and cleansing support here.
