Autoimmune Disease

 

Autoimmune disease is an immune system disorder in which the immune system functions abnormally. In auto immune disease the enemy is from within . One 's own immune system for unknown reason turns against self and
destroys or damages tissues or cells. Autoimmune disease is an immune system disorder in which the immune system functions abnormally. In auto immune disease the enemy is from within . One 's own immune system for unknown reason turns against self and destroys or damages tissues or cells.

Autoimmune disease is also known as Autoimmune conditions. As name implies "auto" is self and "immune " is immune system .

Immune system disorders cause abnormally low activity or over activity of the immune system.

 In cases of immune system over activity, the body attacks and damages its own tissues (autoimmune diseases). Immune deficiency diseases decrease the body's ability to fight invaders, causing vulnerability to infections. In response to an unknown trigger, the immune system may begin producing antibodies that instead of fighting infections, attack the body's own tissues.

Treatment for autoimmune diseases generally focuses on reducing immune system activity.

Examples of autoimmune diseases include:

    Rheumatoid arthritis

The immune system produces antibodies that attach to the linings of joints. Immune system cells then attack the joints, causing inflammation, swelling, and pain. If untreated, rheumatoid arthritis causes gradually cause permanent joint damage. Treatments for rheumatoid arthritis can include various oral or injectable medications that reduce immune system over activity.

Red meat, sugar, flour, processed and fried foods, alcohol and gluten worsen the condition of patients with this disease. 

   Type 1 diabetes mellitus

In type I diabetes(representing 10% or fewer of all cases), elevated blood glucose results from inadequate secretion of insulin by the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas.

Immune system antibodies attack and destroy insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. By young adulthood, people with type 1 diabetes require insulin injections to survive.

    Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue. It can affect the skin, joints, kidneys, brain, and other organs.
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue. It can affect the skin, joints, kidneys, brain, and other organs. The most seen symptom associated with SLE is the popular butterfly rash.

Symptoms vary from person to person, and may come and go. Almost everyone with SLE has joint pain and swelling. Some develop arthritis. The joints of the fingers, hands, wrists, and knees are often affected. People with lupus develop autoimmune antibodies that can attach to tissues throughout the body. The joints, lungs, blood cells, nerves, and kidneys are commonly affected in lupus.

 In chronic cases, patients have severe rashes on the body.

Treatment often requires daily oral prednisone, a steroid that reduces immune system function. Click here to see certain drugs that can cause SLE

    Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)

The immune system attacks the lining of the intestines, causing episodes of diarrhea, rectal bleeding, urgent bowel movements, abdominal pain, fever, and weight loss. Ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease are the two major forms of IBD. Oral and injected immune-suppressing medicines can treat IBD.

    Multiple sclerosis (MS)

Multiple sclerosis is an unpredictable and often disabling disease of the central nervous system thatdisrupts the flow of information within the brain and between the brain and the body. 

Multiple sclerosis affects nerves in the brain and spinal cord, causing a wide range of symptoms including problems with muscle movement, balance and vision.

Each nerve fibre in the brain and spinal cord is surrounded by a layer of protein called myelin, which protects the nerve and helps electrical signals from the brain travel to the rest of the body. In MS, the myelin becomes damaged.

The immune system attacks nerve cells, causing symptoms that can include pain, blindness, weakness, poor coordination, and muscle spasms. Various medicines that suppress the immune system can be used to treat multiple sclerosis.

  

  Guillain-Barre syndrome

The immune system attacks the nerves controlling muscles in the legs and sometimes the arms and upper body. Weakness results, which can sometimes be severe. Filtering the blood with a procedure called plasmapheresis is the main treatment for Guillain-Barre syndrome.

    Psoriasis

In psoriasis, overactive immune system blood cells called T-cells collect in the skin. The immune system activity stimulates skin cells to reproduce rapidly, producing silvery, scaly plaques on the skin.

    Graves' disease

The immune system produces antibodies that stimulate the thyroid gland to release excess amounts of thyroid hormone into the blood (hyperthyroidism). Symptoms of Graves' disease can include bulging eyes as well as weight loss, nervousness, irritability, rapid heart rate, weakness, and brittle hair.

 Destruction or removal of the thyroid gland, using medicines or surgery, is usually required to treat Graves' disease.

    Hashimoto's thyroiditis

Antibodies produced by the immune system attack the thyroid gland, slowly destroying the cells that produce thyroid hormone. Low levels of thyroid hormone develop (hypothyroidism), usually over months to years. Symptoms include fatigue, constipation, weight gain, depression, dry skin, and sensitivity to cold. Taking a daily oral synthetic thyroid hormone pill restores normal body functions.

    Myasthenia gravis

 Antibodies bind to nerves and make them unable to stimulate muscles properly. Weakness that gets worse with activity is the main symptom of myasthenia gravis. Mestinon (pyridostigmine) is the main medicine used to treat myasthenia gravis.

    Vasculitis

The immune system attacks and damages blood vessels in this group of autoimmune diseases. Vasculitis can affect any organ, so symptoms vary widely and can occur almost anywhere in the body. Treatment includes reducing immune system activity, usually with prednisone or another corticosteroid.

Allergy and autoimmunity result from dysregulation of the immune system. Both related in their mechanism but not the same

Asthma and autoimmune diseases apparently have little to share except for the involvement of the immune system in both types of disorder. However, epidemiological studies have shown that asthma and Type 1 diabetes are associated and some experimental findings have suggested that autoimmune mechanisms might be operating in asthma as well.

Most autoimmune diseases can be managed to the minimum level. Physicians and researchers around  the world are working to obtain cure and save lives. Get diagnosed if you have one or more matching symptom. Prevention is better than cure.

Sharing is saving.