(NaturalHealth365)  Something important has come to light about autoimmune diseases that most people don’t know yet.  A massive study just finished looking at over 1.5 million patients, and what they found changes how we should think about conditions like celiac disease, lupus, type 1 diabetes, and multiple sclerosis.

The bottom line?  These autoimmune conditions appear to influence cancer risk in ways that doctors are just starting to understand.  This is definitely news your doctor should be telling you.

What researchers found about celiac disease

People with celiac disease showed some significant patterns in this research.  Their risk of small intestine cancer was 319% higher than everyone else – more than four times the normal rate.  They also had elevated risks for esophageal cancer (86% higher), liver cancer (68% higher), and several other digestive cancers.

Now, before anyone panics, small intestine cancer is still relatively rare overall.  But the pattern is clear enough that it’s worth paying attention to.

Most people with celiac disease put enormous effort into staying gluten-free, which is absolutely the right thing to do.  This research just suggests there might be more to the story than we previously understood about how gluten sensitivity affects the body long-term.

Lupus and diabetes have their own stories

Lupus patients showed their own concerning trends.  They had more than double the normal risk of liver cancer, plus notable increases in several other digestive cancers.

Type 1 diabetics weren’t exempt either.  They showed elevated risks across most digestive cancer categories that the researchers looked at.  What makes this particularly relevant is that many people develop type 1 diabetes as kids, potentially living with these elevated risks for decades without knowing about them.

The researchers believe this is related to the chronic inflammation associated with autoimmune diseases.  When your immune system is constantly activated, it creates an environment that might make cancer more likely over time.

Multiple sclerosis defies expectations

Here’s where things get interesting.  MS patients actually showed lower cancer risks in several categories – 23% lower pancreatic cancer risk, 41% reduced esophageal cancer risk, and others.

Nobody’s entirely sure why MS seems protective while other autoimmune diseases increase risk.  It might be the medications, or maybe MS affects immune surveillance differently.  Whatever’s happening, it shows that autoimmune diseases don’t all work the same way when it comes to cancer risk.

Why this makes biological sense

The connection isn’t mysterious once you understand what’s happening.  Autoimmune diseases create chronic inflammation throughout your body.  Your immune system is basically running hot all the time, attacking what it thinks are threats.

That ongoing inflammatory state can promote the kind of cellular changes that sometimes lead to cancer.

The medications used to treat autoimmune diseases add another layer to this.  Many work by suppressing immune activity to control symptoms.  While this helps tremendously with daily life, it might also reduce your body’s ability to catch and eliminate abnormal cells early on.

What you can do about it

The good news is that several approaches can help address the underlying inflammation driving these risks:

Eat to cool inflammation: Foods rich in omega-3s, antioxidants, and natural anti-inflammatory compounds can help.  Think wild-caught salmon, organic blueberries, leafy greens, and colorful vegetables.  Nothing revolutionary, just consistently good choices.

Fix your gut: Many autoimmune conditions start with gut problems, so supporting intestinal health through probiotics, bone broth, and gut-healing nutrients makes sense.  A healthier gut often means less system-wide inflammation.

Get serious about stress: Chronic stress makes both autoimmune diseases and cancer risk worse.  Find whatever stress management actually works for you – meditation, exercise, time outdoors – and do it consistently.

Support your detox systems: Help your liver and other organs do their job through proper hydration, fiber-rich foods, and nutrients from vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower.

Work with holistic practitioners: Find healthcare providers who understand these connections and can help you balance immune function without triggering autoimmune flares.

Push for better screening: Given these elevated risks, standard cancer screening schedules might not be enough.  It’s worth discussing more frequent monitoring with your holistic doctor and get the right blood tests like, a high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (Hs-CRP) test to determine the level of inflammation in your body.

Moving forward

Learning about additional health risks when you’re already managing an autoimmune condition isn’t exactly welcome news.  But knowledge gives you options that ignorance doesn’t.

This research shows that aggressive inflammation management isn’t just about feeling better day-to-day – it might be about preventing cancer down the road.  Every anti-inflammatory choice you make could be protecting you in ways that extend far beyond immediate symptom relief.

The key insight is that managing autoimmune diseases effectively goes beyond controlling symptoms.  It’s about comprehensive long-term health protection, and understanding this cancer connection is part of that bigger picture.

With over 24 million Americans living with autoimmune diseases, these findings affect a lot of people who currently have no idea about their elevated cancer risks.  The research should be a wake-up call for both patients and doctors to start treating autoimmune diseases and cancer risk as connected issues rather than separate problems.

If you want to learn what leading experts know about cancer prevention and immune system support, get access to the Stop Cancer Docu-Class, which features 32 presentations from top researchers and practitioners sharing proven strategies for reducing cancer risk and optimizing immune function.  Discover natural approaches to supporting your body’s defenses and managing inflammation effectively.  Get access to your cancer prevention toolkit today.

Sources for this article include:

Thelancet.com