Colby Kash - The Autoimmune Plague

THE

Autoimmune

PLAGUE

THE

Autoimmune

PLAGUE

How to Regain Sovereignty over Your Body and Life

Dr. Colby Kash, D.C., M.S.

White River Press

Amherst, Massachusetts

Copyright 2022, Colby Kash, D.C., M.S.

All rights reserved.

First published 2022 by White River Press

Amherst, Massachusetts 01004 whiteriverpress.com

Book and cover design by Lufkin Graphic Designs

Norwich, Vermont 05055 www.LufkinGraphics.com

The contents of this book are for informational purposes only, and are not intended to diagnose or treat any medical condition, and should not replace professional medical advice. You should seek the advice of a physician or other health care professional for any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. I caution you not to disregard professional medical advice, or in any way delay seeking medical attention, based on the contents of this book.

ISBN: 978-1-935052-89-0 (paperback)

978-1-935052-94-4 (ebook)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Kash, Colby, 1995- author.

Title: The autoimmune plague : regain sovereignty over your body and life / Dr. Colby Kash, D.C., M.S.

Description: Amherst, Massachusetts : White River Press, [2022] | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: A science-based blueprint of the authors journey back to health from autoimmune disease: not one, but three classified autoimmune diseases. It is his mission to empower and educate as many people as possible to take control of their health. He presents the proprietary to decreasing the common autoimmune triggers, increasing the bodys resilience, and preventing reoccurrence. The Autoimmune Plague provides evidence-based changes to diet, lifestyle, and gives awareness to alternative therapies/technologies that many doctors are unlikely to be trained in or share with patients-- Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2022017165 | ISBN 9781935052890 (trade paperback)

Subjects: LCSH: Kash, Colby, 1995---Health. | Autoimmune diseases--Alternative treatment. | Autoimmune diseases--Patients--Biography. | Self-care, Health.

Classification: LCC RC600 .K36 2022 | DDC 616.97/8--dc23/eng/20220713

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022017165

Acknowledgements

To my mother for unconditional love and support through every stage of my life.

To my father for expanding my mind about what can be possible and leading by example.

To Jared, Shantal, and Zena for always being in my corner.

To past mentors and coaches for teaching me important life lessons.

To those suffering with autoimmune conditions, this book is for you.

Contents

Illnesses do not come upon us out of the blue. They are developed from small daily sins against nature. When enough sins have accumulated, illnesses will suddenly appear.

Hippocrates

O NE MORNING I AWOKE IN A COLD SWEAT , as a sharp dagger of pain reverberated through my body. I was alarmed to find my hands swollen to the size of baseballs; I had no recollection of any trauma. The next day the swelling progressed to my elbows and fingers. Then, the restricting pain had caught up to my hips, knees, and feet. I was officially rendered useless and called out of work sick. I lay bedridden in a prison that had been beautifully designed by my immune system. My body was at war, at war with itself. In just a few days, how did I transform into moving like a 90-year-old grandma with a tennis-ball-bottomed walker? The answer was interwoven not only in my lifestyle, but in the same way YOUand all of uslive in twenty-first-century Western civilization.

As far back as I can remember, I always had a wonky digestive system. Around twelve years of age, I was riddled with painful stomachaches, gas, bloating, and frequent staycations to the stall. I had seen a multitude of conventional doctors of varying specialties. However, I had never been given a treatment protocol or an explanation of what might be causing the symptoms or suggestions on what to do about it. Instead, I was slapped with the label IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome), a diagnosis of exclusion and synonymous with they dont know whats going on. I even remember a doctor suggesting that I should attempt a bowel movement after dinner, as if that was sound medical advice. Another doctor dispassionately explained that it was normal to live with a dysfunctional stomach. Unfortunately, this happens too often when patients see their doctor for symptoms that dont show up on a blood test, and the doctor simply dismisses it as normal.

As the years went on, my symptoms progressed into bloody stools and gut-wrenching pain. Inflammation in the gut had spread to my skin in the form of acne and psoriasis, and it systematically evolved into bouts of brain fog, achy joints, and low mood. At the age of 24, IBS had progressed to the diagnosis of Crohns disease, whereby my immune system was attacking my gut lining and microbiota. I was put on a relatively safe drug called Mesalamine. However, my body had different plans and expressed an adverse reaction to the drug. It taught me a whole new meaning of the word nausea and ultimately lead to the next progression of the disease, psoriatic arthritis, as colorfully described with the dominoing of inflammation from my fingers to my toes. Yet another heap of stress piled into the stress bank that had tipped my body into bathing my joints with inflammation. My insides were now fighting a multi-front war with its newest flank ambushing the synovium of my joints.

While in Chiropractic School, I began to study Nutrition and Functional Medicine, and I learned about the root cause of disease. In fact, I became obsessed, reading and listening to anything I could get my hands and ears on. I learned early on that I needed to take complete personal responsibility and extreme ownership of my autoimmune disease. I decided if I was going to be a doctor worth my salt, I had no choice but to relieve myself from the unknown, incurable disease. While on that health journey, I gave birth to an autoimmune protocol that won the high ground at every known angle that this disease penetrates. Thankfully, I now thrive without the symptoms that once held me back.

How could autoimmune disease like this happen to such a young person who ate healthily and exercised regularly? Whether or not I knew what I was doing at the time, I had given myself Crohns disease. I was consuming foods chalked with glyphosates, antibiotics, GMOS, BPA, among thousands of other chemicals. As a high-charging scholar/athlete, through academics, athletics, and extracurriculars at the highest levels, I was absorbing the stressors of life without finding time to wind down the mind through meditation. I was dousing myself with toxic shampoos and conditioners, binge drinking at college parties, and consuming high levels of sugar, plant defense toxins, and rancid vegetable oils.

What I didnt know at the time is that the body cant tell the difference between different stressors. It stockpiles them all into what I like to conceptualize as a stress bank. One can continue to deposit stress in its many different forms until it hits a predetermined amount and a gene for disease is turned on. As I continued to add more stressors, more cells began to express the diseased genes phenotype. This is clinically referred to as allostatic load. Allostatic load is the price that the body pays for being forced to adapt to stressful situations. The bodys ultimate goal is to always return to homeostasis or your bodys baseline. Under normal circumstances the body has its most efficient baseline heart rate, body temperature, and blood pressure, along with thousands of other metrics, some of which work in cycles. However, chronic exposures to elevated levels of endocrine, neural, or other chemical signals can prevent the return to homeostasis. These signals are part of the language that the body uses to express stress to its cells.