Anyone who suffers from the pain of arththritis knows that it is almost always accompanied by inflammation. Inflammation and the pain that accompanies it is actually a mild form of autoimmune disease or malfunction. It is a result of the immune system attacking antigens after this response is no longer necessary. Many far more serious autoimmune diseases such as Muscular Dystrophy, ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) and Scleraderma are also a result of an overactive thymus gland and immune system.