How Vaccines Cause Autoimmune Conditions

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I want to take a few minutes and explain how vaccines are related to autoimmune conditions. 

This is complex, so I’m going to try to keep it fairly basic--but true.  I’m not going to dumb down anything. 

The first thing you have to understand is what does a vaccine actually do? 

Well, a vaccine does one thing-- make your immune system become activated against whatever is in that vaccine. 

So, for example if you have a mumps’ vaccine, it’s designed to stimulate your body to recognize the mumps in the vaccine...then build the antibodies to it, so that if it gets exposed to mumps again, it’ll react to it quickly and you’ll have a very short illness-- if one at all.

Quick Review:

1. Inject vaccine
2. immune system recognizes the antigen (whatever the vaccine is for)
3. Immune system makes antibodies so that if it sees the antigen again, it can kill it quickly.

Example:

The Gardicil vaccine...what’s that designed to do?  Well, it’s designed so that if your child or you get exposed to HPV (human papilloma virus) that you develop antibodies to it.  If you’re exposed to it again, that you see it, you mobilize your immune system, and you have a very short illness and maybe you don’t have one at all.

Vaccines are connected to autoimmune conditions in one of a couple ways. 

No. 1-- The main thing to realize is that vaccines can overstimulate your immune system. 

Let’s go back and breakdown your immune system, give you a real simple explanation. 

Your immune system’s essentially got two divisions.  There’s a TH1 and a TH2. (It’s like football--you have the NFC and the AFC. You need both to have a football league.)

You need both TH1 and TH2 to have a normal immune response.  You need a balance.

Well, TH1 is what we call your T cells.  There’s lots of different kinds, but they’re kind of like the SWAT team. T cells can kills things. 

Now TH2 are your B cells.  B cells make antibodies.  Antibodies are like Post-It Notes with description of suspects.  They’re like the command center for the SWAT team. 

The B cells are making these post-it notes and sending them around so that when your immune system identifies something as an invader, the army mobilizes.

Another word for an invader is what we call an “antigen."  An antigen is just something that makes your immune system perk up and go, “Hey.  What’s that?  That doesn’t belong here.”  So, when an antigen comes into the body, the immune system mobilizes.  It tries to find it, and kill it.  The TH2 system will make antibodies for it, so that in the future, if you’re exposed to it, you’ll kill it quickly. 

Vaccines can tip the scales of balance in your immune system. This is a bad thing.. 

So, many people that have an autoimmune condition already had a preexisting disposition to have an unbalanced immune system. 

An unbalanced immune system is what is occurring when you have an autoimmune condition.

Either, TH1 or TH2 is way, way out of control...dominant, similar to what happens when someone’s brain becomes unbalanced.  It can become so unbalanced over time---and I’m skipping a lot of physiology here – that the immune system can mistakenly, abnormally, identify you as an invader, one of your organs, one of your tissues. 

What can the immune system attack?  The immune system can attack Anything. 

It can attack your..

• thyroid
• pancreas
• liver
• intestinal lining
• nerves 
• brain
• heart valves
• cartilage in joints

...I mean you name it.  It can attack anything.  That is an autoimmune attack, an autoimmune condition. 

What are the named autoimmune conditions? Here's a few... 

• Rheumatoid Arthritis.
• Lupus
• Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, Grave's thyroid disease 
• Sjogren's
• Multiple Sclerosis (which is a garbage can diagnosis). 

These conditions can be triggered by vaccines.

The person could have already been teeter-tottering towards an abnormal TH1/TH2 dominance.  When they got the vaccine, it provoked their immune system to have a big response. And it was enough to keep the immune system permanently out of balance. 

Vaccines stimulate your immune system.  That’s their whole point. 

But... if you already had a system that was teetering on the edge of the cliff of being out of balance...and you get a vaccination-- or a couple of vaccinations---That could be enough to permanently skew your system. 

You probably have heard of thimerosal. It contains mercury.  Well, thimerosal is still in certain vaccines.  It’s still in certain flu shots.  Thimerosal is used as a preservative, but your immune system recognizes mercury as an invader.  See the probem?

Other vaccines use aluminum as a way to get the immune system to have a BIGGER response.

Your immune system goes, “Oh, my gosh.  We’ve got to kill that thing.”  Since the aluminum is attached to the mumps or whatever the vaccine is for, you get a bigger immune response. 

So, the ingredients in the vaccine can be the cause for the overstimulation. 

But just the immune stimulation by itself can be enough to permanently cause you to have that functional imbalance.  In the scientific literature – and you can look this up--It’s called a "subset shift" or a "cytokine dominance." That’s what’s happening when vaccines cause autoimmune conditions. 

Now here’s the good news. 

Autoimmune conditions can be helped--without medications.

But you’ve got to do the right things.

I’m going to tell you right now, your rheumatologist...your immunologist...forget it.  They’re just going to put you on a lot of different medications.  The fact is, for some of those people that’s going to work, but just do your research folks. Lots of people with autoimmune conditions on medications get worse...and keep getting switched to different medications.

This approach doesn’t work for many people because you need to analyze this TH1, TH2 imbalance. 

What I’m letting you know is if you’re wondering about, should I get a vaccine?  Should I not get a vaccine?  If you’ve already got autoimmune condition, you might want to reconsider it. 

That’s how vaccines cause autoimmune conditions--immune system overstimulation. 

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© 2009 Dr. David Clark

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Dr. David Clark
Functional Neurologist
Functional Endocrinologist
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Comments

[Marcie Barrentine]

I have twin girls that both have autoimmune problems. My oldest twin has hypothyroidism, has had ITP where her spleen was eating all of her platelets, her autoimmune attacked her mucas glands, and now her bones in her feet have grown so crooked that she is going to have to have surgery when she is fifteen to correct them after her growth plates have stopped growing. Her twins autoimmune attacked her pancreas and she now has type 1 diabetes. Not only is it strange enough to me that these two of my children out of five are the only ones in our family with these autoimmune problems other than me having the hypothyroidism myself. But we met a girl in our small town that was born on the same day and year by the same Dr only an hour or so apart and her autoimmune attacked her and she also has type 1 diabetes. I guess my question is could there have been something wrong with the immunizations they received at that hospital at the same time? I would love to know if anymore children that were born on that day or around have any trouble with their autoimmune systems. But i know i would never be able to find that out. I just hope they dont continue to have problems with this. The oldest has had several different things and i worry there will be more. And my little diabetic bless her heart she doesn't want it anymore. And it breaks this mothers heart when she comes ti me and says i just want to be me again and normal. If i could just go back to the day before i found out I had diabetes I would eat everything that i can't have now. :( i want so much to take it from her.

Thanks for listening
Marcie

[Kara]

Dr. Clark, this is the exact argument I want to pose to my pediatrician against further vaccinations for my son who has autism (more and more studies are finding autism is a form of autoimmune dysfunction)! So thank you.

"Autoimmune conditions can be helped--without medications.
But you’ve got to do the right things."
Along that line of approach, I have started my son on Bovine Colostrum. It has been shown to both regulate an over-active immune system and boost an under-active immune system. I've been giving it to him for under a month, and I have been seeing some moderate improvements in his behavior already.

[Aran]

Dr Clark- I'm really enjoying reading through all your archives. Vaccines are a subject that I'm really interested in as the mother of a 3 yer old and a 5 month old. My oldest has only received 2 vaccines in his life and the baby has not been immunized. I always feel like I don't know what to do. As you know, I have hashimoto's and meniere's so there's likely a predisposition for autoimmune conditions in my family. How to know how to act with a child? And if we decide to vaccinate, what should we do to not tip the immune system over the edge? Glutathione? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Aran

[shashank]

Here is a link to more information about the genetics of Autoimmune Conditions that was prepared by our genetic counselor and which has links to some useful resource for those dealing with this condition: http://www.accessdna.com/condition/Autoimmune_Conditions/50. There is also a number listed for anyone who wants to speak to a genetic counselor by phone. I hope it helps. Thanks, AccessDNA

[chronic arthritis]

Joint deformity or pain is sometimes so severe that surgery is the best alternative. A patient can have added years of mobility due to the hip, elbow, shoulder and knee replacements that can be performed today. Surgeries include joint replacement (replacing the joint with an artificial joint), tendon reconstruction (reconstructing damaged tendons) and synovectomy (removal of the inflamed tissue).