Aaron Hartman, MDFunctional Medicine Specialist | Clinical Researcher

Autoimmunity does not happen overnight #FunctionalMedicine #IntegrativeMedicine #HolisticHealth

11 Jan 2026 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

0:30

A short YouTube video by Aaron Hartman, MD explaining that autoimmunity develops over time and requires multiple contributing factors: genetic inheritance, a triggering event, increased intestinal permeability ("leaky gut"), and infections. Dr. Hartman contrasts this multi-factor process with typical specialist visits that often do not explore chronic infections, gut permeability, or trigger identification; he emphasizes taking a detailed history to find what started and what is sustaining or blocking the patient’s ability to self-heal.

Autoimmunity doesn't happen just overnight, it's a process. There are several things you have to have in order to get an autoimmune disease. Genetic inheritance, a triggering event, leaky gut, and some kind of infection. How many times have you been to your specialist for your autoimmune or inflammatory condition and they've asked you about chronic infections or leaky gut or the triggering event? It's unlikely that's actually happened. And that's one of the things we do. We ravel your history. What's going on with you. You actually have to figure out what started what's keeping you sick and what might be blocking you by ability to self heal and self repair.