Why are Autoimmune Disorders on the Rise?

Understanding the Autoimmune Epidemic

We are in the middle of an autoimmune epidemic. It costs more than cancer, yet it remains underfunded and overlooked.

Here is the reality. Autoimmune disease affects 50 million Americans. That is twice as many as cancer. The annual cost is staggering. We are talking 300 to 500 billion dollars a year. Compare that to cancer, which is projected to reach 240 billion by 2030.

Now here is the part that should bother you. Cancer research receives 7.2 billion annually from the NIH. Autoimmune disease research gets less than 1 billion, scattered across multiple institutes with no dedicated center. We spend more treating autoimmune disease than cancer, yet we invest less than one-seventh on researching it. That is a mismatch we cannot afford to ignore.

I gave a talk to a group of women in Phoenix recently. I asked how many of them were on thyroid medication. A full 25 percent raised their hands. Twenty years ago, I never saw that. This surge reflects the rise of Hashimoto’s, and it is happening in communities everywhere.

We need to pay attention. Leaky Gut is fueling autoimmunity. The time to act is now. We need to clean up our diets and eat more nutrient-dense, organic whole foods. Your gut health is the first line of defense.

The Numbers Are Alarming

Over the past 20 to 30 years, autoimmune disorders have surged. Celiac disease has increased fivefold. Type 1 diabetes has nearly doubled. Hashimoto’s thyroiditis is now the most common autoimmune disorder in the country, affecting up to 5 percent of the population. Multiple sclerosis cases rose 30 percent globally in less than a decade.

The Autoimmune Registry has documented over 150 autoimmune diseases. That number keeps growing as researchers identify new variants. This is not a coincidence. It is a trend, and it is picking up speed.

The Gut Connection

A study in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences found that Leaky Gut increases the risk of autoimmunity thirty-fold. And if you already have one autoimmune disorder, you are three times more likely to develop a second one.

Here is why. When the gut lining is damaged, toxins, microbes, and undigested food leak into the bloodstream. That triggers widespread inflammation and causes your immune system to start attacking your own tissues.

What Is Driving Leaky Gut?

Poor diet plays a big role. Ultra-processed foods, imbalanced gut bacteria, and chemicals in our food supply all contribute. One chemical that deserves special attention is glyphosate. It has become widespread in our food supply. It disrupts gut bacteria and increases the permeability of the gut lining.

If you track the rise of celiac disease and Hashimoto’s, you will see it closely follows the increased use of glyphosate.

Authored by Gerard Guillory, MD

Gerard Guillory, MD, is a board-certified internist who practiced for nearly four decades with a focus on functional, root-cause medicine. He is the author of three books on irritable bowel syndrome and the founder of It’s My Health, where he and his team put current health news in context and help members understand the underlying causes of chronic symptoms.