How Do You Determine If You Have Th1 or Th2 Dominance?

Dr Paul Anderson
Dr Paul Anderson

So the first question: Can you talk about how to determine if you have th1 or 2 dominance?  I've been told that because I have pain in response to echinacea, berberine, skull cap, olive leaf,  all of which I'm told push the th1 system that I'm th1 dominant.  From a diagnostic criteria you could of course have an immunoassay done of th1 and 2 and you know that's probably the most you know remarkable lab way to look.  Generally I think what you're being told there is true that there are th1 pushers and th2 pushers.  A lot of times in post-COVID and autoimmunity and certain other things you will have a natural imbalance and so it's not that you don't have th2.   Th1 is more sensitive and without spending the two hours it normally takes to talk about this in addition to just taking away things that are Th1 drivers for a while till the system gets better because you shouldn't take things if they're going to aggravate you usually.  

The other thing is if you look at the biology of why would we have Th1 and 2 not be balanced because they're supposed to be out of balance if we have a particular immune response then go back to balance. If you go back and you look at the Melatonin part of the notes there's a little bit of information in there and some papers about that.  

Sometimes in chronic pain autoimmunity post-COVID,  fibro, etc you get a hyperactive Th1 response.  That would push Th1  but also is treating the underlying problem which is really immunoreactivity which is exactly the same story I've been talking about with regard to long COVID.  It is an immune imbalance problem that then creates all these other problems.  

Th1, 2 imbalance are evidence of that.  All the same stuff I said about trying to get balance back in. It starts with oxidation reduction balance which is usually a combination of vitamin C, vitamin E and glutathione and then their support nutrients and then removing underlying inflammatory pathology and then you can start to improve the Th1, 2 balance.  I would say yes to your recommendation of don't take those things and those probably are driving it that's a good non-lab way to sort of say yeah that's probably what's going on.