What is immunoroots, and why does it exist?
immunoroots is a knowledge platform for people with complex immune disorders: MCAS, histamine intolerance, dysautonomia, ME/CFS, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, Samter’s triad, and whatever else comes along when the immune system decides to start acting up… or go haywire.
immunoroots is the sister project of immunoloco. Immunoloco was brought to life by Lisa Dostmann as a labor of love, favorite time-sink, and a playground for research. Lisa serves as a volunteer on the board of VAEM e.V. and on the scientific advisory board of the Ehlers-Danlos Organization e.V.; but above all, she is personally affected by this condition. She started writing because she realized years ago that there is hardly any useful, evidence-based information available on certain topics and it seemed to be time to change that.
I, Daniela Dwersteg, am the author of immunoroots and happy to collaborate with Lisa by developing the English platform. She has done a fantastic job, especially for the German-speaking community and I now try my best to make this valuable information accessible for the international community. I have spent the last couple of years researching my own health issues, digging through studies and trying countless approaches until I found what actually works for me.
Why a free “non-paywall,” and are the articles available to read for free?
Yes! And mostly because that's simply how we want it. If you're dealing with one of these conditions, you likely already have enough on your plate without another paywall standing between you and the information you need.
That said, we do protect some content, and there are a few reasons for that.
Here you can see how often one of the articles about MCAS is displayed—and how few people find their way there thanks to AI summaries... It has been shown nearly 100,000 times over the past three months to people searching for it, yet only 130 clicked on the original written content, even though the article ranks first or among the top results on Google.
What this means in practice: Our content is being read, but we’re no longer getting feedback and are losing that dialogue. Some of our specialized, hands-on knowledge is rewritten by AI and published elsewhere—often without attribution, and in some cases simply stolen outright. That’s one of the reasons why we offer a membership here: not to lock content away, but so that people like you can help us keep going...
Spread the word and remember: Hey, there’s immunoroots!
AI use?
We also work with AI. We know what you might be thinking right now. But no... we don’t let AI write our articles. What we do, for example, is dictate and use a local Whisper model to transcribe it. We use AI for spell-checking, and sometimes to organize thoughts, and yes, we've also used AI to help with this website’s CSS.
But: The textual analysis and the balancing of research findings against practical experience are the workings of our mind put down on paper. Or the great ideas, corrections, and insights from guest authors, such as Laura Ploch (pharmacist) and Gernot Ortmanns (internist).
Still, we write slowly. Because thoroughness takes time.
What are the benefits of a membership?
Free membership (immunoroots): You receive all articles as soon as they’re published, plus a newsletter for when we’ve done too much research—with a fatigue-friendly summary at the top for those days when your brain isn’t cooperating. And you can join the discussion in the comments..
immunoroots star (7€/month or 70€/year including VAT!): you help us write articles instead of crunching numbers, and you’re a ⭐. In return, you get access to an exclusive group call every two months. There’s time for your questions—and those of the others who are there. You’ll also get to vote on which topic comes up next and receive member updates whenever something’s happening behind the scenes.
The Comment feature
It’s here! Yes, really—and thanks to the membership feature, hopefully completely spam-free. The discussions under the articles are often just as valuable as the articles themselves, because you share experiences that we don’t have. This works with a free membership account.
Because, as written above, data privacy is important to us: When you sign up for membership, you’ll be asked for your name, but you’re also welcome to use a pseudonym or call yourself “pretty mast cell" if you like.
Topic poll
We are constantly getting requests about what we should write about next. We're happy about that, but sometimes it’s overwhelming! That’s why: Star members get to vote on which topic comes up next. We'll make the final decision, but we'll take your priorities into account. We promise.