Understanding diseases as a disruption of balance

Understanding diseases as a disruption of balance

by Michelle De Vera, M.D., FAAAAI

In the human body, there is a natural tendency to maintain a state of equilibrium or balance. This includes the capacity to keep blood levels of different metabolic chemicals within a normal range, and to adjust to changes within the internal milieu. This is done in order to keep our bodies in a condition known as homeostasis.

Homeostasis – from the Greek words homeo, meaning “similar”, and stasis meaning “stable”; this is ultimately the balance that our bodies seek, and it permeatesto the cellular and molecular level.Such that situations that result in a disturbance of the homeostatic balance results in diseases.

Autoimmune diseases such as lupus or rheumatoid arthritis are good examples of loss of homeostasis. Autoimmune disease happens when our own immune system becomes unregulated and starts making an immune response against our own tissues and cells. This loss of balance and modulation of the immune system results in massive inflammation and destruction of cells, tissues and organs. In the case of lupus, there is destruction of blood vessels, skin, connective tissues, and other cells that result in multiple organ involvement and failure. In rheumatoid arthritis, there is destruction of your joints causing pain and deformities.

At the Institute of Personalized Molecular Medicine (IPMM) of The Medical City (TMC), diseases such as these are treated with the goal of restoring homeostasis.  For example, in treating lupus, stem cell therapy, especially in the form of mesenchymal stem cells is given in order to restore a balance and modulation to the immune system. Unlike most medications that cause anti-inflammation and immunosuppression that simply blunt the immune response (both towards your own cells and against foreign insult), immunomodulation instead maintains balance by lessening the excessive action against one’s own cells, while still enabling, and at times enhancing, the body’s own protective mechanisms against outside attack. 

All of these therapeutic options can be given with the purpose of reestablishing the equilibrium of the immune system thus achieving immunomodulation, controlling inflammation, and affecting progression of disease. 

About IPMM 

IPMM is a unit of The Medical City focused on the ethical delivery of personalized molecular medicine treatments. The backbone of the IPMM is Regenerative Medicine, a revolutionary field involving the engineering of cells and other biomaterials with the goals of restoring organ function lost or impaired due to disease or injury, and improving the quality of life

IPMM is one of the very few accredited Human Stem Cell and Cell-based Therapy Programs in the country, with accreditation granted by the Department of Health in November 2014.

For appointments and inquiries, please call (632) 988 1000 / (632) 988 7000 loc 6307 / 6551, or visit www.themedicalcity.com.