How much control can you actually have over autoimmunity and fibromyalgia? Let’s consider “the sunburn analogy”.

When was the last time that you had a sunburn? At that time, did you consider your sunburn a terrible disease over which you had no control? Of course not! Most likely you accepted the sunburn as a natural consequence to prolonged sun exposure. Although painful, the burn was not a mysterious malady of unknown origin, but your body doing exactly what it was designed to do under those particular circumstances. I am sure you realize that the answer to not walking through life with red, irritated, or blistered skin is protecting yourself from the sun’s damaging rays. Keep your skin in a safe environment and you will avoid the pain that a sunburn brings.

Fibromyalgia is a lot like a sunburn. It is also a natural consequence brought about by certain conditions in the environment. Only in this case, I am referring to the internal environment of the body. The often painful result is the immune system turning against the body’s own tissue. Controlling those circumstances is more complicated than simply avoiding prolonged sun exposure, but the individual can control them. The goal is to change the internal environment and by doing so, avoid the pain caused by the immune system turning against the body.

What you may or may not realize is that autoimmunity occurs naturally in everyone to some degree. However, cells that are capable of attacking the body’s own tissue are kept under control by the body in an ideal environment. Genetics can also play a role in whether or not the body is likely to attack itself.

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