The Supersyndrome | Part 4:
The Connection Between Hypermobility & Autoimmune Disease
Dr. Aaron Hartman
February 28, 2023
Autoimmune disease is a condition I frequently see in patients with Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder. In this article, I’ll highlight the chain of conditions that lead from hypermobility to autoimmune disease.
Hypermobility Contributes to Leaky Gut
The Changing Landscape of Autoimmune Disease
Hypermobility and Elevated Cortisol
Did you know that people with hypermobility have a larger amygdala? Since the amygdala regulates emotions, people who are hypermobile often also have an increased level of alertness or arousal. These people tend to have stronger emotional memories, and their bodies can overreact to stimuli. This can be a helpful trait, as being hyper-alert to your environment could be beneficial in a survival situation. However, in today’s culture, it often results in elevated cortisol. Chronically elevated cortisol can result in more leaky gut and also tends to drive the immune system to be more reactive and to increase the antibody response.
Can you guess which hormone is the only hormone in your body that increases with age? That’s right – it’s cortisol. Other hormones like thyroid, sex hormones, and insulin tend to decrease with age, but cortisol tends to go up. So you can see how this could be particularly problematic for hypermobile people who already have elevated cortisol.
Conclusion
We know that 20% of Americans have a positive auto antibody. I had a positive AMA for about four years. With a lot of personal work, cleaning up my environment, and healing my gut, I was able to clear it. You can do this too! Stress management, gut health, diet, and environmental factors all become super important in addressing and preventing autoimmune issues.
This emerging research is illuminating the connections between hypermobility, gut issues, and autoimmune disease.
I hope that this series on the associations with hypermobility was helpful. There are various conditions in this super syndrome or collection of syndromes, linked to hypermobility. Now that we are learning how they are related, we can get to the root cause and help people prevent and heal these conditions.
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