- Oct 2, 2025
Autoimmune 101: The 3 Stages of Autoimmune Disease and How to Stop Autoimmune Progression
- Julie Stady
- Autoimmune Symptom Relief
- 0 comments
While we have learned much about autoimmune disease there is still so much that is a mystery. There are now over 100 different autoimmune diseases identified. A diagnosis of Lupus, Chron's, Hashimotos, Psoriasis, MS - are increasing daily. There are over 23 million in the United States suffering from at least one autoimmune disease. We are in a crisis in this country.
What Exactly is Autoimmunity?
Our immune system was thoughtfully designed to guard us against foreign invaders like bacteria and viruses. When it is alerted to an invader, it sends out an army of attack soldiers to destroy anything that is meant to harm us. In the presence of autoimmune disease the immune system gets "confused" and begins to recognize healthy tissues like our skin, joints, and organs, as invaders. It releases proteins called autoantibodies that attack healthy cells in an attempt to get rid of the foreign invader. But why does this happen? How does our immune system get confused?
The Autoimmune Trifecta
Autoimmune disease is like a 3 legged stool. A stool can’t stand on only two legs. Nor can autoimmune disease rear its full ugly head without 3 contributing factors.
Scientists currently agree that in order to have autoimmune expression you must have 3 factors in place:
1. A genetic predisposition. If you have a family history of autoimmune disease, you should be aware of your risk.
2. Permeability of the gut. This is otherwise known as leaky gut due to microbial imbalances.
3. A trigger. A trigger can be environmental, like chemicals or allergies, it could be viral, or it could be food sensitivities.
A perfectly balanced stool creates autoimmune expression. But what if we can break a leg of the stool and decrease our risk of developing autoimmune disease?
The 3 Stages of Autoimmune Disease
Stage 1 - Silent Autoimmunity: In this stage there are elevated autoantibodies in blood work, such as an elevated ANA, but symptoms are often silent and there is no loss of function. ANA are a type of antibody called an autoantibody produced by the immune system. While healthy antibodies protect the body from pathogens like viruses and bacteria, autoantibodies cause disease by mistakenly attacking healthy cells and tissues. A positive ANA blood test, however, does not give specifics of which disease but it is a good indicator that autoimmune disease is brewing.
In stage 1, some may have vague symptoms such as fatigue, brain fog, mild joint pain and muscle aches. At this stage, a conventional healthcare practitioner may tell you that "you are fine" even with positive blood work. You may be told to reduce your stress and get more sleep. This is good advisement, however, this is the stage where the bigger picture is often missed in conventional medicine.
Stage 2 - Autoimmune Reactivity: This is the stage of autoimmunity when the autoantibodies are elevated and there is a loss of function but no grave tissue destruction, yet. A person will usually begin to have more specific symptoms that might be specific to a particular autoimmune disease. These symptoms can guide us to know what autoantibodies, as well as other diagnostic labs, to test for more specifically. For example, someone with bilateral joint pain in the wrists that flares and calms would be a clue to test more specifically for Rheumatoid Arthritis and/or Lupus autoantibodies.
More often than not, if a person has been offered blood work and the tests have revealed specific positive autoantibodies, a diagnosis still cannot be made until a person demonstrates a certain number of criteria to qualify for a diagnosis. This is the stage when a conventional practitioner may tell you that you just have to "wait and see."
Stage 3 - Autoimmune Disease: The third stage is when someone has positive autoantibodies and symptoms are becoming debilitating, causing a significant loss of function. This is the stage when most people finally seek help. Unfortunately, damage has been done and will continue without intervention. In this stage, a specific diagnosis can usually be made and medications will be given to treat inflammation and calm the immune system. These medications may bring some relief and slow progression. But not without high costs and side effects.
How to Stop Autoimmune Progression
A conventional medicine approach will prescribe medications that only mask symptoms, like putting a bandage over a cut. The cut is still under the bandage, you just can't see it. Sometimes medicine is necessary. It can be life-saving in certain circumstances. But what if we address symptoms and disease at the roots rather than mask symptoms? What if we can disrupt the Autoimmune Trifecta by breaking a leg or two of the stool, disrupting it's perfect balance, that allowed autoimmune disease to flourish in the first place?
We can accomplish this by taking a functional approach and getting to the root cause of autoimmune disease. When we nourish the soil our roots are living in we stop progression. This is the true art of healing autoimmune disease naturally and functionally!
Healthy regards,
Julie