More than 50 million Americans now suffer from one or more autoimmune illness and 80% are women. Thirty years ago, only one in 400 people developed an autoimmune illness but today, one in 12 Americans and one in nine women are diagnosed with an autoimmune illness. Currently we have 100+ autoimmune disorders all caused by the common thread of autoimmunity.

This module will focus on the adaptive immune system dysregulation and autoimmune disease, inflammaging and metaflammation and drivers of system wide inflammation. We will review a system’s biology approach to assessment and treatment of chronic inflammation that lead to a variety of clinical syndromes such as chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and neurodegenerative disorders. Cellular and molecular biology of immunity, the cellular stress response, oxidation, genetic damage, inflammation, etiology of disease including environmental and lifestyle factors, and the risk for cancer development are also reviewed. Additionally, we will review innovative treatment options in autoimmune illness and ways to modulate inflammation with low dose naltrexone as well as other botanicals.