Autoimmune Disease: Symptoms, Causes and Treatment

 

Autoimmune Disease: Symptoms, Causes  and  Treatment

Autoimmune Disease:

Think of your immune system as an army defending your body's castle against intruders like germs. You may have lupus, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, or any one of a hundred other autoimmune disorders if your army misbehaves and assaults the castle. Pain, exhaustion, nausea, rashes, sadness, and many more symptoms are possible.

The body's immune system protects it from illness and infection. However, when the immune system is damaged, it wrongly targets healthy cells, tissues, and organs for attack. These attacks, also known as autoimmune disease, can affect any region of the body, impairing bodily function and potentially becoming lethal.

Over a hundred autoimmune disorders are recognized. Some are well known such as luspus, type 1 diabetes, and rheumatoid arthritis.

This review of autoimmune disease is brought to you in collaboration with Cue Health, a healthcare organization that creates lab-quality, portable diagnostic tests for at-home and professional usage.

How do autoimmune illnesses function?

Why your immune system turns against you is unknown to experts. It's as if it cannot distinguish between what is you and what is an invasion or between what is healthy and what is not. Although there are a few possibilities, researchers aren't entirely certain why this occurs.

Example of autoimmune disease

1-Diabetes type 1:

A condition in which the immune system is damaged. Insulin-producing cells in the pancreas are attacked and destroyed in type 1 diabetes by the immune system.

2-Rheumatoid arthritis, (RA):

The immune system produces antibodies that attach to the lining of joints. Rheumatoid arthritis causes permanent. 

3-Systemic lupus erythematosus :

An autoimmune condition called lupus can damage organs and cause organ damage, fever, skin rashes, and joint pain. Lupus currently has no known treatment and needs to be managed for the rest of one's life. Most often, lupus affects females between the ages of 15 and 45.

4- Irritable bowel syndrome:

 Inflammatory bowel disease immune system attacks the lining of the intestinal wall. 

Any GI tract organ, including the mouth and the anus, can become inflamed by Crohn's disease. Only the rectum and colon's linings are impacted by ulcerative colitis.

5-Addison's condition:

The rare chronic disorder known as Addison's disease causes insufficient cortisol and aldosterone production by the adrenal glands. The majority of the time, autoimmune attacks are to blame. 

6- Graves' disease:

 The thyroid gland is stimulated by immune system antibodies to release excessive amounts of thyroid hormone into the blood (hyperthyroidism). Bulging eyes, as well as uneasiness, irritability, a quick heartbeat, weakness, and brittle hair, are signs of Graves' disease. To effectively treat Graves' disease, the thyroid gland must be destroyed or removed via medication or surgery.

7-Hashimoto's thyroiditis :

When the thyroid gland is impacted by Hashimoto's disease, it may eventually stop producing enough hormones to keep the body functioning normally, resulting in hypothyroidism. Hashimoto's can lead to weariness and weight gain, and it is more prevalent in middle-aged women than males.

8-Autoimmune vasculitis :

 In these autoimmune illnesses, the immune system targets and harms blood vessels. Vasculitis symptoms can appear practically everywhere in the body and vary considerably depending on which organ is affected. Reducing immune system activity is part of the treatment, commonly with prednisone or another corticosteroid.

9-Psoriasis: 

An autoimmune ailment called psoriasis is a persistent skin problem. On the scalp, elbows, knees, and lower back, it is characterized by inflamed, red, elevated patches that frequently turn into silvery scales. Arthritis and psoriasis are related conditions. In the United States, 7.5 million people are expected to be affected.

10-Scleroderma:

 Also referred to as scleroderma. It is an autoimmune chronic connective disease that inflames several parts of the body, including the skin. The excessive production of collagen brought on by this inflammation damages your blood vessels and other internal organs including the heart, lungs, and kidneys as well as produces noticeable hardening of the skin. The objectives of treatment are to relieve symptoms and halt the disease's progression, but there is no known cure.

11-Multiple sclerosis:

A number of sclerosis (MS). Pain, blindness, weakness, clumsiness, and muscular spasms can all be signs that the immune system is attacking nerve cells. Multiple sclerosis can be treated with a number of immune system-suppressing drugs. 

12-Guillain:

Barre disease The nerves that govern the muscles in the legs, and occasionally the arms and upper torso, are attacked by the immune system. Weakness follows, which can occasionally be very severe. The main form of treatment for Guillain-Barre syndrome involves filtering the blood through a process known as plasmapheresis.

Causes:

Autoimmune disorders are not recognized to have a specific etiology. There are risk factors, nevertheless, that could raise your likelihood of developing an autoimmune disease. Risk elements consist of:

• Some medicines. Discuss the negative effects of statins, antibiotics, and blood pressure drugs with your healthcare physician.

• A family history of autoimmune disorders. Certain illnesses are inherited; they run in families.

• Smoking

• Having one autoimmune illness already. You have a greater chance of getting another.

• Being exposed to poisons

• Being a woman – 78% of those with autoimmune diseases are female.

• Obesity

• Infections

Symptoms :

Many autoimmune disorders have early signs and symptoms, such as weariness.

• Stiff muscles

• Swell and erythema

• Low-grade fever, difficulty focusing, and tingling 

• Numbness in the hands and feet

• Hair fall

• Body rashes

• Swollen gland

• Abdominal pain

• Fatigue

• Fever

Diagnostic procedures for autoimmune disorders:

Healthcare professionals typically need more time to diagnose an autoimmune disease than they need to diagnose other disorders. This is becase many autoimmune disorders share symptoms with other illnesses. Bring the following items to your appointment to assist your doctor in the diagnosis process:

A thorough list of any symptoms you may have, along with how long you've had them.

A history of the health in your family. Make a note of any autoimmune disease sufferers in your family.

Your doctor may do a few blood tests to look for autoimmune illnesses in addition to speaking with you about your symptoms. These tests include:

•  Antinuclear antibodies test (ANA)

• Complete blood count (CBC)

•  Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR)

If you have certain symptoms and certain blood markers, you may be able to verify that you have an

Treatment:

The disease determines the course of action. In most circumstances, the purpose of treatment is to reduce inflammation-related swelling, redness, and pain while suppressing (slowing down) your immune system. To make you feel better, your doctor may prescribe corticosteroids or other medications. You might require therapy for some illnesses for the rest of your life.

The following are some examples of drugs used to treat autoimmune diseases:

• Painkillers

• Inflammatory drugs

• Medications for anxiety and sadness

• Insulin injections

• Medicines for sleep

• Plasma transfers

• Corticosteroids

• Medicines and creams for rashes

• Immune globulin given intravenously

• Medications that calm (suppress) your immune system

Prognosis:

What is the prognosis for those suffering from autoimmune diseases?

The signs of your autoimmune disease may evolve. They could go into remission, where you only experience minor or no symptoms, or they might flare up and exacerbate the illness. Some of the symptoms can be managed even though they cannot be healed. Numerous autoimmune disease sufferers can lead regular lives.