An autoimmune disease is a disease in which your immune system mistakenly attacks your body.
the immune system normally protects against germs such as bacteria and viruses. When it recognizes these foreign invaders, it sends out an army of fighting cells to attack them.
Normally, the immune system can recognize the difference between foreign cells and its own cells.
In an autoimmune disease, the immune system mistakes a part of your body, such as joints or skin, as foreign. It releases proteins called autoantibodies that attack healthy cells.
Some autoimmune diseases target only one organ. Type 1 diabetes damages the pancreas. Other diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus SLE affect the entire body.
Doctors do not know exactly what causes the immune system to misfire. However, some people are more likely to develop an autoimmune disease than others.
According to a 2014 study, women contract autoimmune diseases at a rate of about 2 to 1 compared to men – 6.4 percent of women versus 2.7 percent of men. Often the disease begins in the childbearing years of a woman ages 15 to 44.
Some autoimmune diseases are more common in certain ethnic groups. For example, lupus affects more african americans and hispanics than caucasians.
Certain autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis and lupus, run in families. Not every family member necessarily has the same disease, but they do inherit a susceptibility to autoimmune disease.
As the incidence of autoimmune disease increases, researchers suspect that environmental factors such as infections and exposure to chemicals or solvents may also play a role.
A " western diet "is another suspected risk factor for developing autoimmune disease. Eating high-fat, high-sugar, and highly processed foods is thought to be linked to it. Inflammation, which could trigger an immune response. However, this has not been demonstrated.
A 2015 study focuses on a different theory called the hygiene hypothesis. Because of vaccines and antiseptics, children today are not exposed to as many germs as they once were. Lack of exposure could make your immune system susceptible to overreacting to harmless substances.
BOTTOM LINE : researchers don’t know exactly what causes autoimmune diseases. Genetics, diet, infections and exposure to chemicals may be involved.
There are more than 80 different autoimmune diseases. Here are 14 of the most common.
1. Type 1 diabetes
The pancreas produces the hormone insulin, which helps regulate blood sugar levels. In type 1 diabetes mellitus the immune system attacks and destroys insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.
High blood glucose levels can cause damage to blood vessels as well as organs such as the heart, kidneys, eyes, and nerves.
2. Rheumatoid arthritis RA
In rheumatoid arthritis RA the immune system attacks the joints. This attack causes redness, warmth, pain and stiffness in the joints.
Unlike osteoarthritis, which often affects people as they get older, RA can start in them as early as 30s or earlier .
3. Psoriasis / psoriatic arthritis
Skin cells normally grow and then shed when they are no longer needed. Psoriasis causes skin cells to multiply too quickly. The extra cells build up and form inflamed red patches, usually with silvery white plaque scales on the skin.
Up to 30 percent of people with psoriasis also develop swelling, stiffness and pain in their joints. this form of the disease is called psoriatic arthritis .
4. Multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis MS damages the myelin sheath, the protective layer that surrounds nerve cells, in your central nervous system. Damage to the myelin sheath slows the rate at which messages are transmitted between your brain and spinal cord to and from the rest of your body.
This damage can lead to symptoms such as numbness, weakness, balance problems and walking difficulties. The disease occurs in different forms that progress at different rates. According to a 2012 study, about 50 percent of people with MS need help walking within 15 years of the onset of the disease.
5. Systemic lupus erythematosus SLE
Although doctors in the 19. The systemic form of lupus first described in the nineteenth century as a skin disease actually affects many organs, including joints, kidneys, brain and heart, because of the common skin rash.
Joint pain, fatigue and skin rashes are among the most common symptoms.
6. Inflammatory bowel disease
Inflammatory bowel disease IBD is a term used to describe conditions that cause inflammation in the lining of the intestinal wall. Each type of IBD affects a different part of the GI tract.
Can inflame any part of the GI tract from the mouth to the anus. Affects only the lining of the large intestine colon and rectum.
7. Addison’s disease
addison’s disease affects the adrenal glands, which produce the hormones cortisol and aldosterone, as well as androgen hormones. Too little cortisol can affect the way the body uses and stores carbohydrates and sugar glucose. A lack of aldosterone leads to sodium loss and excess potassium in the bloodstream.
Symptoms include weakness, fatigue, weight loss and low blood sugar.
8. Basedow’s disease
Basedow’s disease attacks the thyroid gland in the neck and produces too much hormone. Thyroid hormones control the body’s energy use, called metabolism.
When you have too much of these hormones, your body’s activities speed up, leading to symptoms like nervousness, rapid heartbeat, heat intolerance, and weight loss.
A possible symptom of this disease is bulging eyes, called exophthalmos . It can occur as part of a condition called graves’ ophthalmopathy, which occurs in about 30 percent of patients with morbus basedow, according to a. 1993 study .
9. Sjogren’s syndrome
This condition affects the glands that lubricate the eyes and mouth. The typical symptoms of sjogren’s syndrome are dry eyes and dry mouth, but it can also affect the joints or skin.
10. Hashimoto’s thyroiditis
In hashimoto-thyroiditis, the production of thyroid hormones slows to a deficiency. Symptoms include weight gain, sensitivity to cold, fatigue, hair loss and swelling of the thyroid goiter .
11. Myasthenia gravis
Myasthenia gravis affects nerve impulses that help the brain control muscles. When communication from nerves to muscles is impaired, signals cannot make the muscles contract.
The most common symptom is muscle weakness that worsens with activity and improves with rest. Muscles that control eye movements, eyelid opening, swallowing and facial movements are often involved.
12. Autoimmune vasculitis
Autoimmune vasculitis occurs when the immune system attacks blood vessels. The resulting inflammation constricts the arteries and veins, allowing less blood to flow through them.
13. Pernicious anemia
This condition causes a deficiency of protein produced by gastric mucus cells known as intrinsic factor, which is needed for the small intestine to absorb. Vitamin B-12 from food. Without enough of this vitamin, one develops anemia and the body’s ability to synthesize DNA properly is altered.
Pernicious anemia is more common in older adults. According to a 2012 study, affects 0.1 percent of people in general, but nearly 2 percent of people over 60 years of age.
14. Celiac disease
People with celiac disease cannot eat foods containing gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye and other grain products. When gluten is in the small intestine, the immune system attacks this part of the gastrointestinal tract, causing inflammation.
A 2015 study found that celiac disease affects about 1 percent of people in the united states. A larger number of people have reported gluten sensitivity this is not an autoimmune disease, but can have similar symptoms such as diarrhea and abdominal pain.
