Have you been sick for an extended amount of time, and you can’t seem to get better no matter what you do? In fact, your symptoms are progressively getting worse. If this sounds familiar, your healing process may be “getting stuck” in the Cell Danger Response (CDR) mode.

If this cellular dysfunction is left unaddressed, it leads to uncontrolled inflammation, various debilitating symptoms, and even complex chronic illnesses. But there is hope. You can get yourself out of the CDR, and truly heal.

How Cells Typically Work

Your cells are made up of various components, including mitochondria, commonly known as your cell’s powerhouse and energy factories. Their main function is to make the majority of ATP (aka energy) for your cells and body, powering our movements and major functions. ATP also defends your body from threats in an attempt to keep it safe from danger.

When everything is healthy, mitochondria are in energy mode. If your cells sense a threat, they can switch from energy production to defense mode, leaking ATP into the bloodstream to signal an immune response. This is known as the Cell Danger Response (CDR).

This explains why when you get acutely sick with a virus or infection, you are fatigued, as your ATP and mitochondria are focused on immunity tasks vs. energy production.

The Cell Danger Response: Is It A Good Or Bad Thing?

Normally, once the threat or illness passes, your cells go back to functioning optimally and in a state of balance where it has enough energy to carry out normal cell functions. The best example of a normal, healthy cell danger response is a cut that scabs, inflames the tissues, and heals healthy new skin.

So, while this is a beneficial response to real threats, if the threats are prolonged, it can trigger your cells to enter into a Cell Danger Response where it’s constantly engaged in protective immune activity. Your cells will go into defense mode instead of optimal cell metabolism and cellular energy production. 

These biochemical shifts occur in hopes of protecting the body, but really, it becomes harmful to the body if it is prolonged. Ideally, our cells should not be in defense mode 24/7. This is a major reason why so many with chronic illness suffer from mitochondrial dysfunction, profound fatigue, and poor wound healing. Cells stuck in Cell Danger Response are NOT completing the healing cycle.

What Can Trigger Cell Danger Response?

Unfortunately, many things in today’s environment can cause cellular stress, trigger cell danger response and reduce your cellular energy. These can include:

• Nutrient deficiency or depletion

• Heavy metal toxicity

• Toxic chemicals in everyday products

• Biotoxins found in mold

• Bacteria

• Viruses

• Protozoa

• Helminths 

• Inflammation

• Certain medications

• Traumatic experiences 

Your Healing Can Become “Stuck”

Cells can become stuck in this defensive reaction intending to heal the body, but when it is prolonged, it just causes problems instead. In fact, all disease is associated with mitochondrial dysfunction. 

During a normal healing response, in an attempt to overcome the threat, your cells flow through a series of processes that starts with injury and ends with recovery. But as we age, or because of ongoing cellular threats, this healing process becomes inefficient because of mitochondrial dysfunction.

During this series of healing phases, your cells are unable to enter into the next phase until the previous one has been completed. When your cells get stuck in a cell danger response phase due to stressors or “threats” occurring inside your body, it inhibits the healing cycle from continuing as it should. Simply put, the blocked communication and miscommunication stop progress in the healing cycle, which prevents normal energy production, information, and resource coordination with other organ systems.

Manifestation of Complex Chronic Illnesses

When your cells become stuck in this cell danger response, your body begins to produce pro-inflammatory molecules. Cells stuck in cell danger response are unable to obtain oxygen and nutrition the way they should, as they are busy in a defensive mode. This leads your cell’s mitochondria to link with your autonomic nervous system and lymphatic tissues to obtain oxygen and nutrition.

Eventually, your mitochondria won’t be able to function properly, and your organs begin to shut down. This leads to a heightened susceptibility to toxic overload, virus and bacteria infections, and mold toxicity.

With reduced mitochondrial function, cell danger response, and activation of the nervous system, you can become more at risk of debilitating mast cell activation syndrome, mold toxicity, Lyme disease, multiple chemical sensitivities, and chronic environmental illnesses. 

This is because Cell Danger Response causes biochemical shifts to occur that lead the body to an imbalanced state, preventing you from healing.

Biochemical Shifts from Cell Danger Response

Biochemical shifts can occur within the body during cell danger response:

• Stressed cells release purinergic molecules, like ATP, that activate the process of inflammation, stimulating the body to make more cortisol, leading to elevated stress hormones.

• In an attempt to regulate detoxification your sulfur metabolism shifts so that glutathione (your most vital antioxidant for detoxification and energy) is used up. This inhibits methylation, which is needed for proper chemical balance within the body.

• Metabolism of vitamin D is altered, weakening your body’s immune system, increasing inflammation, and can lead to autoimmunity.

• Cell danger response uses up vitamin B6 to stimulate histamine production from mast cells.

• Cell danger response can interfere with porphyrin synthesis, which is essential for the function of hemoglobin.

• The production of the amino acid, tryptophan can be altered. Instead, other pathways can be encouraged to make other compounds that are associated with anxiety and depression, and inflammation.

• Detoxification of heavy metals becomes impaired, making their overall toxicity even more severe.

• Getting stuck can cause poor gut health, promoting more chronic inflammation and dysbiosis.

• If this cell danger response is turned on for a long period of time, it can get stuck, causing alarms to sound constantly.

It’s vital to address CDR and put these biochemical shifts back into balance, so you can encourage the continuation of the healing cycle and finally stop mitochondrial dysfunction and inflammation from occurring.

Reboot Your Body’s Systems to Heal

One way you can turn off the alarm bells and get your cells out of Cell Danger Response is by rebooting the systems of the body. It’s vital to address CDR and its causes if you want to heal from your chronic illness.

But keep in mind that you have to address the CDR triggers first so it doesn’t keep returning to that state. If you have underlying mold toxicity or Lyme Disease, you have to fix that first. 

Then you can move forward with rebooting your body’s systems by addressing the biochemical shifts stated above by optimizing vitamin D and B levels, treating methylation dysfunction, optimizing the gut microbiome, and managing histamine production.

We start this by supporting drainage pathways, cleansing parasites, addressing mold and heavy metals, then Lyme and co-infections, then viruses, and cleaning up remaining toxins.

Overcome Your Chronic Symptoms & Heal Holistically

Are you looking to get to the root cause of your symptoms? We can help you.

We use holistic approaches and functional medicine lab testing to investigate what is triggering your chronic symptoms so you can address them at their source and start to feel better faster. Our health coaches are masters at guiding the healing of multiple root causes in a personalized order that gets you wellness results that last. We also help you maintain good health and minimize your disease risks.

by sarah southerton

Certified Integrative Health Practitioner (IHP2) & Functional Medicine Health Coach

I specialize in helping people heal chronic illnesses and achieve optimal health. After my own battle with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS), Lyme disease, Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) and Post Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), I was thrust into the world of alternative medicine, herbal healing, and low-tox/low-stress living. I have since restored my health and no longer suffer with debilitating symptoms and I’m passionate about help other people who are suffering, so they can feel better a lot faster than I did.

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