Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is a tough disease. Multiple dysfunctions develop that have far reaching effects on the body. Most start with the immune system.

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It is the malfunctioning immune system attacking the body that causes the fundamental autoimmune condition.

So why does the immune system attack the body when you have chronic fatigue — especially when it is suppose to attack pathogens or cancers not cells they are supposed to be protecting?

One reason may be due to different types of long chain carbohydrates residing on the surface of cells — which allows communication, interaction and exchange information with other cells. One thing they communicate is that they are a part of the body — so don’t attack. Without the carbohydrate based cell markers, cells are treated as non-self and therefore attacked by the immune system.

The essential heavy molecular weight carbohydrates that make cell markers are no longer common in our diets today. The process required to make cell markers is enzyme intensive.

As immune system dysfunctions develop in CFS, enzymes are wiped out, which means they may not produce adequate amounts of long chain cell markers. Because of this some cells are unable to communicate that they are part of the body. The immune system is over-activated, thus attacking those unmarked cells — causing inflammatory damage, and ultimately organ and joint damage over long periods of activation.

An Out Of Balance Immune System

Your immune system uses Th-1 cells to fight intracellular pathogens like viruses, mycoplasma and bacteria and Th-2 cells to fight pathogens outside the cells. When the immune system is balanced, these two modes function together in keeping the body healthy. If they get out of balance, i.e., the Th-1 side becomes weak while the Th-2 side becomes over-activated, chronic fatigue can develop.

Several things can cause Th-2 cells to over-activate…stress is one. Stress produces cortisol which stimulates the production of Interleukin 6 and other Th-2 cells.

In addition to the vast number of toxins we are exposed to in our food, water and environment, this toxicity can come from poor digestion, leaky gut syndrome (often from candida), mycoplasma bacteria and other infectious agents.

According to Dr. Paul Cheney, one of the top autoimmune doctors in the world, viruses, especially herpes commonly found in chronic fatigue, and some bacteria and mycoplasma, make proteins that mimic IL-10. This tricks the immune system into activating Th-2 cells instead of Th-1 cells. The immune system then shifts from the Th-1 mode that attacks the destructive viruses, to the Th-2 mode that does not.