Headlines like “80% of Autoimmune Diseases Happen to Women” may make you think being female is a health risk, especially when you look at the characteristics of autoimmune diseases. Do any of these traits describe you—or a woman you’re close to?
- You take care of other people’s needs before your own.
- You identify with duty and responsibility over your own wellbeing.
- You tend to be very nice—and repress healthy anger.
- You believe that you’re responsible for how other people feel, and you should never disappoint anyone.
These are the characteristics Gabor Maté, MD, Canadian physician and bestselling author, described to Mel Robbins on her podcast. When her inbox blew up with questions after the episode, she knew she had hit a nerve.
So Robbins invited Sarah Szal, MD, author of The Autoimmune Cure, to go deeper into the causes, treatments, and why women specifically, are suffering. Dr. Szal explained that the immune system becomes confused and sends autoantibodies to attack normal tissue. It’s a spectrum from a healthy immune system on one end and disease on the other, with a broad middle section where nonspecific symptoms live—ranging from fatigue and joint pain to skin conditions like psoriasis, to chronic pain. Knowing the cause can help with diagnosis and treatment, but there are over 100 autoimmune conditions, and women frequently go undiagnosed for 7-14 years, often facing additional problems getting accurate treatment.
Dr. Szal and Dr. Maté agree that women are underserved. Research performed on men is assumed to work for women. Women are culturally programmed to get along, so they accept their doctor’s prognosis without question. And doctors are quick to treat non-specific symptoms with antidepressants, which may make the patient feel better, but doesn’t treat the cause.
In fact, Dr. Szal says that 70% of women who go to the doctor for perimenopause treatment do not get the treatment they need. She reflects on her own medical training, where she was taught to make a diagnosis and prescribe a pill, not talk about risk factors, lifestyle triggers, or choices—which can all contribute to illness or wellness at some point in your life.
Root causes for autoimmune conditions fall into three categories, according to Dr. Szal:
- Genetic predisposition—which can be identified by genetic tests
- Leaky gut—when the boundary in the digestive system fails allowing bacteria, viruses, and inflammatory agents to infiltrate the intestinal walls and trigger immune cells.
- Triggers—trauma, toxic stress, or hormonal stress (pregnancy, menopause).
Two of the three you can do something about. Dr. Szal explains that researchers create leaky gut in animal studies by giving mice alcohol. Drinking alcohol could put you at risk. So can stressing your body with extreme workouts.
But the biggest risk is trauma.
Dr. Maté delves deeply into this cause and the link between the mind and body. It is more than a mere connection. He calls it “one supersystem” so closely aligned that when one is harmed, the other reacts. His own childhood was marked by “big T trauma.” Born in Nazi-occupied Hungary, losing his grandparents and father during WWII. But all trauma, he argues, is an internal wound that festers throughout your life—no matter what the cause.
In the “The School of Greatness” podcast with Lewis Howes, Dr. Maté notes the plight of working mothers in the U.S. who have to return to work two weeks after giving birth. That system not only stresses the mother, but he also contends, it sets the newborn up for lifelong feelings of abandonment when it needs to be nurtured most. In his new book, The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness and Healing in a Toxic Culture, he wrote about normal behaviors we accept, but should change right away, like advising parents not to pick up a crying child. He explains that we create trauma in a child’s life when we give it anything but unconditional love and attachment, a feeling of safety, and feeling valued without having to prove or perform.
Our myth of what is normal extends to how we believe men and women ought to behave. Curing autoimmune disease and all chronic disease, mental and physical, needs to start with curing the culture. Dr. Maté advises that women learn to say no. Don’t say yes to everyone and try to take care of them before yourself. Ask questions and seek community.
Dr. Szal advises connecting the dots between childhood trauma and health in later life. Take an Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) test to assess your experience; don’t assume you’ve dealt with past trauma if you’re still getting divorced, feeling stressed at work, or experiencing triggering traumatic events. Hunt for the triggers—the little traumas that build up to overwhelm and burnout.
And the easiest thing you can do for yourself? An elimination diet. Go without gluten, dairy, sugar, and alcohol for three weeks to see if you feel better. This alone can heal leaky gut.
There is also breathing, your body’s built-in self-help tool. Dr. Szal says you can change your body’s response with only three breaths, spaced out by 5.5 seconds. Try it.
Both doctors agree a little stress is productive, but our culture puts us in boxes that make us sick. It’s our responsibility to turn that around and take control of our own health.
The first step is to stop judging other women when they say they want to make themselves a priority. When Michelle Obama said her next chapter was to focus on “Me,” the trolls dealt a blow. When Dr. Nancy pursued higher education, her friends and family asked, “Who do you think you are?”
It’s time to reduce each other’s trauma. Time to receive without performing. Time to say no when it serves our best interest. We can’t support others when our tank is empty. Being a woman should not be a health hazard. Let’s create the culture that supports us, celebrates our value unconditionally, relieves our trauma, and makes us well.