by Dr. David Pollack

Autoimmune disease diagnoses are skyrocketing. There are so many more people with these issues than ever before, and there are so many possible reasons to consider, such as food quality, preservatives, hormone disruptors in plastics, viruses and other pathogens, and cumulative effects of vaccines. Viruses, in particular, are an important consideration. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a well-known but not widely understood virus that causes many health issues for a vast number of people. While from the viewpoint of a conventional medicine practitioner with little experience in these matters, there might be some controversy, the medical research is quite clear: This virus causes chaos in the body. 

For many, their first experience with EBV is in their teens or early 20s as “mono” (mononucleosis)—an often debilitating syndrome of extreme fatigue, body aches and brain fog. For some, there are little to no symptoms of EBV initially; perhaps a pinch of fatigue attributed to other factors. For most, this will be their only encounter with EBV. Unfortunately for far too many, EBV will rear its head again many years later and sometimes for many years at a time.

The common symptoms of chronic EBV are fatigue, aches and brain fog. Generally these symptoms are not as intense as with mononucleosis. A twist with EBV is that it can cause a wide range of other issues, including potential autoimmune disease, digestive problems, liver dysfunction, lymphatic congestion, thyroid imbalance and even cancer. There is quite a bit of research relating to these issues, and many of the symptoms of these all can be considered similar to autoimmune issues. There is research linking viruses and other parasites to autoimmune disease—that perhaps it isn't just our immune system going haywire and attacking itself, it is our immune system attacking cells that contain a foreign organism. This is one of the major theories, and we see it work out during treatment in some cases, as these autoimmune cases improve with antiviral therapies.  

Dealing with chronic viral infection is not often straightforward. It might seem intuitive to use antivirals at first, but this often doesn't work out or has only mediocre results. The first step is to improve immune function. Where is our immune system you might ask? Seventy percent of our immune tissues are in our gut; therefore, improving gut function is often critical to improving immune function. This is a prime example of the type of prep work necessary to handle both chronic viral infection, such as EBV, and autoimmune conditions.  

Source: Dr. David Pollack, of Pollack Wellness Institute, located at 66 Commack Rd., Ste. 204, in Commack. For more information, call 631-462-0801 or visit https://www.pollackwellness.com/.