Autoimmune diseases
Autoimmune disorders are diseases where the body’s own immune system attacks good body cells, resulting in disease. There are literally hundreds of different autoimmune diseases, depending on exactly which body cell is attacked. Common examples include Type 1 diabetes (juvenile diabetes), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and rheumatoid arthritis (juvenile rheumatoid arthritis)
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Introduction: Autoimmune diseases
Autoimmune diseases can affect almost any part of the body, including the heart, brain, nerves, muscles, skin, eyes, joints, lungs, kidneys, glands, the digestive tract, and blood vessels.
The classic sign of an autoimmune disease is inflammation, which can cause
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Symptoms of Autoimmune diseases
Autoimmune diseases can affect almost any part of the body, including the heart, brain, nerves, muscles, skin, eyes, joints, lungs, kidneys, glands, the digestive tract, and blood vessels.
The classic sign of an autoimmune disease is inflammation, which can cause
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Causes of Autoimmune diseases
No one is sure what causes autoimmune diseases. In most cases, a combination of factors is probably at work. For example, you might have a genetic tendency to develop a disease and then, under the right conditions, an outside invader
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Causes List for Autoimmune diseases
Some possible causes of Autoimmune diseases or similar disorders may include:4
- Acquired generalized lipodystrophy (Autoimmunity)
- Acquired partial lipodystrophy (Autoimmunity)
- Acute adrenal insufficiency (Autoimmunity)
- Adiposis dolorosa (Autoimmunity)
- Alopecia areata (Autoimmunity)
- Alopecia totalis (Autoimmunity)
- Alopecia universalis (Autoimmunity)
- Amyopathic dermatomyositis ...
Types of Autoimmune diseases
There are many different types of autoimmune diseases, with numbers literally in the hundreds. For almost every different type of body cell, there is almost certainly an autoimmune disease where the body’s own immune cells attack that cell.
Common
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Types of Autoimmune diseases
The list of diseases that fall into the autoimmune category includes
- alopecia areata
- autoimmune hemolytic anemia
- autoimmune hepatitis
- dermatomyositis
- diabetes (type 1)
- some forms of juvenile idiopathic arthritis
- glomerulonephritis
- Graves’ disease
- Guillain-Barré syndrome
- idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura
- myasthenia gravis
- some ...
Diagnosis of Autoimmune diseases
How do I find out if I have an autoimmune disease?
Getting a diagnosis can be a long and stressful process. Although each autoimmune disease is unique, many share some of the same symptoms. And many symptoms of autoimmune diseases
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Genetics of Autoimmune diseases
Some autoimmune diseases run in families, such as lupus and multiple sclerosis. It is also common for different types of autoimmune diseases to affect different members of a single family. Inheriting certain genes can make it more likely to get
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Treatments: Autoimmune diseases
The treatment depends on the disease, but in most cases one important goal is to reduce inflammation. Sometimes doctors prescribe corticosteroids or immunosuppressive drugs.
...Source: NIAMS (NIH)7
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Research for Autoimmune diseases
Progress and Promise:
Further research should continue to enhance the understanding of the genetics and causes of autoimmune disorders and result in improvements in diagnosing and treating these diseases. For information on autoimmune disease research that is supported by the
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Names and Terminology
Synonyms:
Autoimmune disease ; Autoimmune disorders
...Source: GTR (NCBI/NIH)9
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References
- Source: NIAMS (NIH): niams.nih.gov/ Health_Info/ Autoimmune/ default.asp
- ibid.
- ibid.
- Source: Algorithmically Generated List
- Source: OWH (DHHS): womenshealth.gov/ a-z-topics/ autoimmune-diseases
- ibid.
- Source: NIAMS (NIH): niams.nih.gov/ Health_Info/ Autoimmune/ default.asp
- ibid.
- Source: GTR (NCBI/NIH): ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ gtr/ conditions/ CN002679/
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Note: This site is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice. See your doctor or other qualified medical professional for all your medical needs.