Autoimmune Diseases

 Autoimmune Diseases

Overview

Autoimmune diseases are health conditions that happen when your immune system attacks your body instead of defending it. Healthcare providers sometimes call them autoimmune disorders.

Usually, your immune system is like your body’s built-in security system. It automatically detects substances that shouldn’t be in your body (like viruses, bacteria or toxins) and sends out white blood cells to eliminate them before they can damage your body or make your sick.

If you have an autoimmune disease, your immune system is more active than it should be. Because there aren’t invaders to attack, your immune system turns on your body and damages healthy tissue.

Autoimmune diseases are chronic conditions. This means if you have an autoimmune disease, you’ll probably have to manage it and the symptoms it causes for the rest of your life.

Types of autoimmune diseases

There are more than 100 different autoimmune diseases. They can affect almost any tissue or organ in your body, depending on where your immune system malfunctions, including your:

Joints.

Muscles.

Skin.

Blood vessels.

Digestive system.

Endocrine system.

Nervous system.

This isn’t a complete list of autoimmune diseases, but some examples of conditions (and where they affect you) include:

Joints and muscles

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Lupus.

Myositis.

Skin and blood vessels

Sjögren’s syndrome.

Psoriasis.

Psoriatic arthritis.

Dermatomyositis.

Scleroderma.

Vasculitis.

Rheumatoid vasculitis.

Urticarial vasculitis.

Vitiligo.

Digestive system

Crohn’s disease.

Celiac disease.

Ulcerative colitis.

Autoimmune gastritis.

Endocrine system

Type 1 diabetes.

Addison’s disease.

Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.

Graves’ disease.

Nervous system

Multiple sclerosis (MS).

Myasthenia gravis (MG).

Guillain-Barré syndrome.

Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIPD).

Symptoms

Autoimmune diseases can cause a wide range of symptoms. They can affect your body almost literally from head to toe.

For example, conditions that affect your muscles can cause muscle weakness. You might also have joint pain, swelling or feel stiffness if you have a condition like rheumatoid arthritis. Type 1 diabetes causes high blood sugar (hyperglycemia). Some autoimmune conditions affect your vision.

Many autoimmune diseases cause inflammation, which can include:

A feeling of warmth or heat.

Discoloration or redness on your skin.

Swelling.

Pain.

Lots of autoimmune diseases cause symptoms that come and go (recur). These episodes of more noticeable or more severe symptoms are called flares or attacks. Tell your provider if you experience symptoms that seem to recur — especially if certain physical activities, times of day, foods or drinks, or anything else makes them noticeably better or worse.

Trust your gut. Nobody knows what’s normal for your body better than you. Visit a healthcare provider if you notice any new symptoms you can’t explain, especially if you don’t feel like yourself more often than usual.

Causes

Experts don’t know for certain what causes autoimmune diseases. We know your immune system mistakenly damaging your body instead of protecting it causes the symptoms of an autoimmune disease you experience. But researchers are still studying what makes your immune system start hurting you in the first place.

What are the risk factors?

Some studies have found that certain factors (triggers) might increase your risk of developing an autoimmune disease. Some triggers may include:

infections, including COVID-19 and Epstein-Barr virus.

Your sex. Women are more likely to have autoimmune conditions.

Having biological relatives with autoimmune diseases. Some autoimmune conditions are genetic conditions and pass through generations of a biological family.

Having one autoimmune disease can increase the odds of developing another one (multiple autoimmune syndrome).

Exposure to chemicals or other environmental factors (aspects of where you live or work that impact your health) might trigger autoimmune diseases.

Smoking and using other types of tobacco can cause many health issues, including potentially triggering autoimmune diseases.

Diagnosis

Healthcare providers diagnose autoimmune diseases with a physical exam and by discussing your health history. You might also need some tests.

Your provider will examine your body, especially if you’re experiencing symptoms in a specific area. They’ll ask about the symptoms you’re experiencing and when you first noticed them. Tell your provider if you know any of your biological family members have an autoimmune disease.

Diagnosing an autoimmune disease is often a differential diagnosis. This means your provider will test you for several different conditions that can cause the symptoms you’re experiencing until they find the cause.

Your provider might order blood tests to look for specific signs (markers) of autoimmune diseases. These markers are like clues your immune system leaves behind after it damages your body or causes specific issues.

You might need some imaging tests to take pictures of the insides of your body, including:

X-rays.

MRI (magnetic resonance imaging).

CT scan (computed tomography scan).

Ultrasound.

Treatment

Autoimmune diseases can need a variety of treatments. Just like the wide variety of symptoms they cause, which treatments you’ll need depends on which condition you have. Everyone’s immune system, genetics and environment are different. That means the treatments that work for you will be unique.

Some common treatments to manage autoimmune disease symptoms include:

Pain relievers.

Anti-inflammatory medication like NSAIDs or corticosteroids.

Immunosuppressants.

Physical therapy.

Occupational therapy.

IVIG infusions.

You might need specific treatments based on the condition you have. For example, people with Type 1 diabetes need insulin therapy and people with celiac disease need to eat a gluten-free diet.

Type of Doctor Department : General Physician