What do irritable bowel syndrome, asthma, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, lupus, dermatitis, arthritis and certain thyroid disorders have in common? (Besides the fact that too many people suffer from them and they show no signs of becoming less common.) The answer is that medical science now views all as having significant or predominant autoimmune components.

What does this mean? Put simply, the body mistakenly identifies certain of its own organs, tissues or other parts of itself as foreign. In turn, the body then "attacks" or "rejects" these parts with various forms of immune response.

A common feature of these conditions is a heightened, abnormal or uncontrolled inflammatory reaction. Under normal functioning conditions -- most notably and commonly if we have contacted a germ or sustained a physical blow or trauma -- this physiologic mechanism is a marvel of the body's intelligence and coordination in galvanizing dramatic change in various systems, including vascular, immune, hormonal and biochemical. In this response, we heat up and our metabolism increases, cellular defenses then multiply, concentrate and spring into action; all to overcome an externally-based health challenge. But should this powerful process be misdirected, should some aspect of organ function or this defense system "hype-up" or become excessively or uncontrollably active, an unhealthy situation can occur. Some of the most miserable, painful, incapacitating and unrelenting conditions are the result of the body's loss of control, regulation or coordination of its own processes.

The pervasiveness of these types of illnesses is measured by how common anti-inflammatory drugs have become as a part of medical treatment. These drugs include the steroids such as prednisone and the hydrocortisones, and the non-steroidal anti-inflammatories-the NSAIDs. (Your adrenal glands and bones don't like the first and your liver and digestive system don't like the second.)

As in all health problems, holistic doctors ask: What is happening here? How can the body/mind do this to itself? The answer we have developed out of concentrated, extensive investigation and experience is presented below as a simple, logical sequence:

To paraphrase and tie these ideas together, one of the first results of any interruption or interference in the communication, control or regulation in body/mind function is a mis-identification or loss of proper connection with the internal and external environment. In other words, faulty messages and responses are made in the continuous, ongoing communication, control and integration of the human organism's total experience. In fact, this is the explanation of-the reality of-allergy, intolerance and the autoimmune response.

How do we understand allergy in this concept? It is an abnormal response to the external enviroment, such as an allergy to wheat, pollens or mold. Autoimmune illness thus becomes an abnormal response to the internal environment.

So, yes, you can be allergic to yourself! But you don't need to aggravate the problem with worry. In the holistic field, this new understanding of intolerance has motivated our capability to identify the specific body elements- organs, tissues (e.g., muscle, vessel, cartilage) or biochemistry ( e.g., hormone, enzyme) involved in these problems. It is not an exaggeration to say that these advances have revolutionized natural health care for both classes of problems in holistic chiropractic and acupuncture meridian therapy treatment systems.

This is directly due to the fact that the nerve and acupuncture meridian systems are (as is known at present) the two fundamental and primary communication and control networks of the body/mind. Quite simply, these are what make the flesh and blood of our "human temples" the alive, integrated, functioning wholes that they should be, instead of inert (dead or dying) lumps of matter. Moreover, it is the doctors and practitioners in these fields who have made it their regular and routine business to detect and correct the aberrations, interferences and other subtle abnormalities in these vital networks.

In short, practitioners must first identify which elements are being reacted to abnormally, and then determine the proper, natural method of correcting the interference in the related area of nerve or acupuncture meridian control and regulation. In a case of asthma or allergic bronchitis, for example, an intolerance to a common airborne such as dust, or to an internal element such as mucus, or some aspect of the lungs themselves, may be found. In cases of intestinal trouble such as colitis or Crohn's disease, there is often an intolerance to hormones, as well as to components of the intestine or to microbes which may normally or abnormally inhabit them. Fibromyalgia cases will specifically demonstrate a patient's intolerance reaction to his or her own muscle tissue. Dermatitis conditions will show the same to some aspect of the client's own blood or skin. The various forms of arthritis will commonly yield reactions to different aspects of the joints and connective tissues.

Corrections are almost always direct applications of natural, non-invasive techniques that have been in traditional use for decades. These include chiropractic adjustment, acupressure and acupuncture, and electrical and electro-magnetic stimulation. They effectively create a therapeutic reprogramming of the body/mind's bio-computer at the source of the allergic or automimmune response. They carry the same uncompromised safety and consistent effectiveness that these established methods have always borne.

As testimony to the power and effectiveness of these concepts and innovations to deal with body/mind control and regulatory problems and associated intolerances, we are witnessing their greater use by doctors of chiropractic, acupuncturists, naturopaths, MD's, nurse practitioners, osteopaths and dentists.

The conventional, current expert medical position on allergy and hypersensitivity conditions is that they are genetically based with no cure. But this is often just another way of saying, "We don't know the cause, so you have to live with it." I hope this article will help you to appreciate, as thousands of clients are doing every day, that a different attitude, outlook and approach can make all the difference, and, in the case of many of these extenuating problems, can change everything.