More and more of us are becoming food-intolerant, sometimes triggered by infections or environmental pollution, and often by a leaky gut. In fact there is an epidemic of allergies going on — inhalant and contact allergies, food intolerances, chemical sensitivities (see MCS and EHS section below), driven in part by the above factors, but also by environmental toxins (see Environmental toxic effects below) and by stress.
Auto-immune disease is also growing rapidly. Recent research links this to a long list of toxins – such as mercury in Hashimoto’s disease, Auto-immune Thyroiditis – and to a number of infections that can trigger autoimmunity in those with a particular genomic make-up (the HLA system).
Another key concept is the ASIA syndrome described by Yehuda Shoenfeld – Autoimmune/Autoinflammatory Syndrome Induced by Adjuvants – a term which includes many of the agents contained in vaccines, and which became recognised after Gulf War Syndrome.