Immune-mediated inflammatory disorders are those in which the autoimmune processes have been identified as a cause of the disease. The experience in cryotherapy includes great number of these disorders: rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriasis (with or without arthritis) and multiple sclerosis.

What causes these diseases?

The immune system has highly specialized cells and proteins called cytokines. Under certain physiological conditions and after having detected harmful factors, they develop important functions to protect the human organism and defend it from agents that they destroy using a process of acute inflammation.

The potential to recognize harmful elements for the organism (antigens) appears during the embryonic development. It becomes an effective defense after having faced different pathogens throughout life. Nevertheless, it seems that it might stop working properly due to root causes (endogenous) or secondary causes (acquired). This would produce a loss of some of these specific properties leading to immune tolerance or absence of response to proper and foreign antigens, as well as self-aggressive immune reactions manifested by a chronic primary inflammation that destroys tissue. The cause of this phenomenon is still unknown, but genetic research is helping understand how immunology works. In this context, it has been recently discovered that a fault in chromosome 6 is responsible for the development of autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis. A risk gene for Crohn’s disease has been found in chromosome 16. This is a chronic inflammatory disease of the intestine that also produces self- aggression.

Although autoimmune diseases are systemic diseases (the entire body is affected), they also have very specific target organs, body areas where they affect specifically and manifestly. These are:

• Joints (rheumatoid arthritis).
• Spine (ankylosing spondylitis, mainly).
• Central nervous system (multiple sclerosis).
• Skin and joints (psoriasis, with arthritis).
• Intestine (Crohn’s disease).

Cytokine TNF-α (tumor necrosis factor alpha) plays an obvious main role in these processes. The over-production of this protein by cells from the immune system triggers a chain reaction of inflammatory processes that foment self-aggressive function of immune cells. New cytokines are released and activated, and the walls of the blood vessels become permeable to the aggressive immune cells, allowing them to enter the target zone or target organ. These immunological discoveries, especially the destructive effect of TNF-α, have allowed the development of highly efficient treatments for these diseases.

Whole-body Cryotherapy enhances the state of health, reduces pain and signs of inflammation, improves general mobility and allows reducing medicine intake.