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Centre Algos
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Autoimmune & Inflammatory Conditions: An Integrative Approach to Chronic Inflammation

Living with an autoimmune or inflammatory condition and still limited by fatigue, pain or digestion. At Centre Algos in Fribourg, we assess the nutritional, biological, digestive and lifestyle factors that remain unanswered.

Autoimmune diseases arise when the immune system responds inappropriately against the body's own tissues. Chronic inflammation is a broader process that can accompany them without being the same thing. Even with good specialist care, fatigue, pain, nutritional deficiencies or digestive symptoms can persist.

Person in pain from an autoimmune condition

At Centre Algos we start from the diagnosis and the treatment already in place, then examine the nutritional, biological, digestive and lifestyle questions that remain open. Functional biology and micronutrition, naturopathy and phytotherapy are our main areas of work here.

Autoimmune disease and chronic inflammation are not the same thing

Autoimmune diseases are a highly varied group of conditions in which the immune system responds inappropriately against the body's own tissues. The diagnosis rests on clinical findings, laboratory results and sometimes imaging, interpreted by a doctor or specialist.

Chronic inflammation is a broader biological process. It can accompany an autoimmune disease, but it also appears in many other medical contexts: infection, metabolic conditions, digestive disease, tissue injury or transient situations.

Inflammation is therefore not a diagnosis in itself. A raised CRP or ESR shows that assessment is worthwhile, not that an autoimmune disease is present.

The reverse also holds: fatigue, pain, digestive symptoms or difficulty concentrating do not automatically mean that chronic inflammation is involved.

What symptoms can occur?

Reducing this group of conditions to swollen joints does not reflect what people actually live with. Depending on the disease and the individual situation, the picture can include:

  • marked fatigue or difficulty recovering
  • persistent or fluctuating pain
  • stiffness, often in the morning
  • joint and muscle symptoms
  • reduced physical capacity
  • digestive symptoms
  • recurrent inflammatory flares
  • skin manifestations
  • large day-to-day swings in energy
  • difficulty concentrating or brain fog
  • nutritional problems or deficiencies

These symptoms are nonspecific. Their meaning depends on the diagnosis, the current treatment and the wider clinical context. Persistent fatigue, for example, may relate to disease activity, but equally to nutritional factors, sleep or a separate condition.

Conditions that can affect many systems

Autoimmune and chronic inflammatory diseases involve very different organs: joints, bowel, skin, thyroid, nervous system and connective tissue.

Representative examples include:

  • multiple sclerosis
  • Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis
  • rheumatoid arthritis
  • axial spondyloarthritis, including ankylosing spondylitis
  • psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis
  • Hashimoto's thyroiditis
  • coeliac disease
  • lupus
  • other autoimmune or chronic inflammatory conditions

Each of these diseases has its own specialist follow-up and its own treatments. This page does not describe them one by one. It explains what Centre Algos can assess and support alongside that care.

Why symptoms may persist

Many people whose disease activity is considered well controlled still feel limited day to day. Several factors can contribute at the same time:

  • remaining activity of the underlying disease
  • persistent pain mechanisms
  • nutritional deficiencies or insufficiencies
  • low iron status or anaemia
  • vitamin B12 or folate status where relevant
  • vitamin D status where relevant
  • restricted dietary intake, by choice or by intolerance
  • malabsorption in relevant gastrointestinal conditions
  • medication effects
  • digestive problems
  • poor sleep quality
  • stress and insufficient recovery
  • reduced physical activity and deconditioning
  • other medical conditions unrelated to the autoimmune disease

No single factor explains everything. The objective is to identify what, in this individual, is genuinely affecting energy, pain, digestion, nutritional status or the ability to recover, and to address those factors in a targeted way where appropriate.

Looking beyond the diagnosis: the Centre Algos approach

The diagnosis tells us which disease is present. It does not always answer every question for someone who remains fatigued, nutritionally depleted, limited by pain or troubled by digestion.

Our work therefore starts from the existing record: diagnosis, specialist follow-up, medication and investigations already carried out. We build the assessment around that picture rather than beside it.

The sequence is straightforward. Understand the diagnosis and current treatment, clarify which symptoms remain in the foreground, review nutrition, digestion, lifestyle and available biological data, investigate specific questions where useful, develop an individualized plan, then reassess.

Functional Biology and Micronutrition

Functional biology and micronutrition is one of the most important areas of our practice in this field. What separates it from broad supplementation is the method: assess where useful, interpret in clinical context, target what is relevant, then reassess.

Depending on the diagnosis, symptoms, medication, diet, digestive health and results already available, nutritional and biological assessment can reveal clinically relevant deficiencies, insufficiencies or imbalances. The most frequent questions concern iron status, vitamin B12, folate, vitamin D, selected minerals and overall nutritional status.

This is deliberately not a standard autoimmune panel. What is worth measuring follows from the person, their disease and their treatment.

When a situation raises a question that goes beyond routine primary-care testing, we can arrange or prescribe additional blood tests and, where indicated, stool investigations.

An additional test is only worthwhile when it answers a clinical question and could change the strategy. More untargeted testing does not improve care.

Nutrition: individualized rather than protocol driven

There is no scientifically established universal autoimmune diet. Needs differ substantially according to diagnosis, symptoms, medication, digestive function, nutritional status, laboratory findings, food tolerance, lifestyle and energy requirements.

Our objective is nutrition that is adequate, sustainable and genuinely suited to the person. Sometimes that means adding rather than removing, particularly when there is already nutritional risk, weight loss or a diet narrowed by successive exclusions.

We suggest removing foods only when there is a clear clinical reason, such as diagnosed coeliac disease or a documented intolerance, and we support the change so that gaps do not open up.

Digestive health when it is clinically relevant

The gastrointestinal system plays a real role in specific situations: marked digestive symptoms, inflammatory bowel disease, malabsorption, restricted intake, unexplained deficiencies or previous abdominal surgery.

In these cases targeted stool testing can add useful information, provided a specific question was formulated first.

The gut is not, however, the universal explanation for autoimmune disease. Microbiome research is active and interesting, but it does not currently diagnose autoimmunity or dictate treatment. We look at digestion when the clinical history points there, not as a matter of principle.

Naturopathy

Naturopathy serves here as an individualized clinical framework. It lets us bring medical history, diagnosis, current medication, nutrition, digestion, sleep, stress, recovery, physical activity, available biological findings and personal priorities into a single plan.

Wilfried Beijersbergen brings a dual background to this work, from hospital care and from natural medicine, which makes it easier to work with an established medical record.

The support stays concrete: structure of the day, balance between effort and recovery, regularity of meals, sleep quality, gradual rebuilding of activity and tracking symptoms over time.

Phytotherapy

Phytotherapy may be considered selectively, according to symptoms, clinical context, current medication, contraindications and possible interactions.

This care matters especially here, because many people take immunomodulatory or immunosuppressive medication. Some plants affect how medicines are metabolised in the liver and can alter their effect.

We therefore never propose a plant because it is said to act on immunity. We start from a concrete symptom, check compatibility with the current treatment and review the result.

Pain and inflammatory disease

Pain in someone with an autoimmune disease does not always reflect active inflammation. Depending on the condition and presentation, it can combine active inflammation, structural change, mechanical and muscular factors, the consequences of earlier tissue injury, nerve-related mechanisms or altered pain processing.

This distinction has practical consequences. When the disease is considered stable and pain continues, another anti-inflammatory measure is not necessarily the answer. An approach built around persistent pain or around joint and muscle pain is often more useful.

Other Centre Algos treatments where relevant

When someone also has a clearly defined musculoskeletal, regional or nerve-related pain presentation, percutaneous hydrotomy can be discussed for that specific pain problem.

In that case it addresses a localized pain presentation, not the autoimmune disease itself. These are two different therapeutic targets and we present them as such.

Other manual or reflex approaches may be considered occasionally, depending on tolerance, symptom location and current treatment.

What happens during a consultation?

The first consultation takes the time needed to build a complete picture. Depending on the person, it includes:

  • review of the diagnosis and specialist history
  • current treatments and medication
  • main symptoms and personal priorities
  • nutrition and actual dietary intake
  • digestive health
  • sleep and recovery
  • stress and lifestyle
  • physical activity and functional capacity
  • interpretation of existing laboratory results
  • identification of clinical questions that remain unanswered
  • targeted additional testing where appropriate
  • an individualized strategy and a point for reassessment

We explain what appears clinically plausible, what remains uncertain and what belongs with specialist follow-up. Disease-modifying treatment is never changed without the prescribing physician.

When further medical assessment is important

Some situations call for prompt medical assessment rather than complementary support:

  • new or rapidly progressive neurological deficits
  • unexplained fever or significant systemic illness
  • significant unexplained weight loss
  • severe or rapidly worsening abdominal symptoms
  • gastrointestinal bleeding
  • an acute painful red eye or visual disturbance
  • marked new joint swelling with systemic illness
  • new symptoms suggesting organ involvement
  • any rapidly progressive or unexplained symptom

These signs help identify when prompt medical assessment is the appropriate next step.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between autoimmune disease and chronic inflammation?
An autoimmune disease involves the immune system responding against the body's own tissues and rests on a medical diagnosis. Chronic inflammation is a broader biological process that occurs in many medical situations. The two can coexist, but they are not synonyms.
Does chronic inflammation mean I have an autoimmune disease?
No. A raised CRP or ESR shows that assessment is worthwhile but does not name a cause. Infection, metabolic conditions, digestive disease or tissue injury can produce the same result. Interpretation depends on the whole clinical picture.
Can nutrition affect autoimmune disease?
Nutrition affects nutritional status, energy, digestion and general health, and in some conditions such as coeliac disease it is central. That does not mean a particular diet controls the activity of an autoimmune disease.
Is there a specific diet for autoimmune disease?
No universal autoimmune diet is scientifically established. Needs vary with the diagnosis, symptoms, medication, digestion and nutritional status. We build a suitable strategy rather than applying a standard exclusion protocol.
Can micronutrient deficiencies contribute to fatigue?
Yes, in some situations. Low iron status, vitamin B12 or folate deficiency, insufficient intake or malabsorption can weigh on energy. Fatigue remains multifactorial, so assessment does not stop at these values.
Which vitamins and minerals are worth checking?
That depends on the diagnosis, diet, digestion and medication. The most frequent questions concern iron, vitamin B12, folate, vitamin D and selected minerals. We choose tests according to the situation rather than from a fixed list.
Is vitamin D important in autoimmune disease?
Vitamin D status is clinically relevant, particularly with limited intake, little sun exposure, malabsorption or an increased risk of deficiency. We assess it when the clinical situation warrants and address a deficiency or insufficiency in a way that is appropriate to the individual context.
Can Centre Algos arrange additional blood tests?
Yes. We can arrange or prescribe blood tests and, where indicated, stool investigations beyond routine testing, when a specific question arises whose answer could change the strategy.
Are stool tests useful in autoimmune disease?
They can be when there is a genuine gastrointestinal question: marked symptoms, inflammatory bowel disease, suspected malabsorption or unexplained deficiencies. They do not diagnose autoimmunity or guide treatment in the absence of a clinical question.
Is gut health connected to autoimmune disease?
Research shows links between the gut and the immune system, but the gut is not the universal cause of autoimmune disease and no microbiome test demonstrates this in an individual patient. We look at digestion when the clinical history points there.
Can phytotherapy be used alongside autoimmune medication?
This requires case-by-case review. Some plants affect drug metabolism and can alter how a medicine works. We review current treatment before any proposal and decline when the interaction risk is not acceptable.
Can naturopathy help when I already see a specialist?
Yes, because the questions are different. Specialist care manages the diagnosis and disease-modifying treatment. We work on the nutritional, digestive, biological and lifestyle factors that shape daily life, aligned with that care.
Why am I still tired when my autoimmune disease is considered stable?
Stable disease activity does not rule out persistent fatigue. Sleep, iron status, dietary intake, pain, medication, deconditioning or another condition can all play a part. Clarifying which of these apply is exactly the work.
Why can pain continue even when inflammation is controlled?
Because pain does not depend on active inflammation alone. Structural change, mechanical or muscular factors, a nerve-related component or altered pain processing can maintain symptoms and call for a different approach.

Related treatments

Medical sources and further reading

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