Autoimmune Diseases: Symptoms & Causes
What are autoimmune diseases?
A healthy immune system is one that protects the body against any infection or disease. But if your immune system is weak or not working properly then it starts attacking the healthy tissues, cells, and other important organs. These are known as autoimmune diseases as the immune system starts attacking any part of the body, affecting various organ functions, and can turn out life-threatening in the worst case.
In studies, it is found that there are approximately 85 to 90 autoimmune diseases. Some of which are
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Type 1 diabetes
- Lupus
- Multiple sclerosis
Most autoimmune diseases are not curable as their treatments go for a longer duration with no guarantee of full and permanent cure.
The real cause behind autoimmune diseases remains unknown. Some studies suggest that these diseases which are autoimmune in nature can be occurring due to the interaction between various environmental factors and genetics.
- Gender
- Ethnicity and
- Race
are the major factors that cause autoimmune diseases to occur. These diseases are likely to happen due to exposure to various factors of the environment. They can be.
- Association Of Sunlight To Autoimmune Disease The UV radiation due to sunlight exposure leads to the occurrence of an autoimmune disease called dermatomyositis in which your skin got rashes and also your muscles become weak.
- Childhood Poverty Gave Birth To Rheumatoid Arthritis In Adulthood – Several Studies in NIEHS done established a clear link between having a low socioeconomic status at an early age and having suffered from rheumatoid arthritis in your adulthood.
- Use Of Chemicals In Agriculture And Rheumatoid Arthritis NIEHS researchers in a study found that workers on a farm when came in contact with the pesticides that are used in agriculture leads to such conditions that favoured rheumatoid arthritis.
- Autoimmune Disease Triggered by Organic Mercury A chemical named methylmercury, is considered to be safe but in studies, it is linked to autoimmune diseases in women of reproductive age women. Some such autoimmune diseases are
- Inflammatory Bowel syndrome
- Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Lupus etc
How are Autoimmune Diseases Diagnosed?
There are no clinical facts that tell us about the proper reason that autoimmune disease is caused but another fact to be noted is that they are not contagious.
It is supported by the data that if families have a history of suffering from autoimmune diseases then there is much probability of it happening in younger generations. And if you already catch the genes then the environment is full of triggers that will raise autoimmune diseases to their peak like chemicals, viruses, etc.
Who Is At Greater Risk?
There are huge no-Indians that are at risk of autoimmune diseases. Women who are more likely to suffer have already in large no got this disease. Also once they get caught they are more likely to get infected with another.
People who like to eat more junk food, processed food, high fat-containing foods, and high sugar-containing food are most likely to have inflammation in their body which ultimately leads to autoimmune conditions.
Symptoms To Identify The Autoimmune Diseases
Various types of autoimmune disease have various common symptoms to get identified, which are:
- Fatigue
- Swelling and pain in the Joints
- Digestive disorder
- Skin problems
- Recurring fever
- Abdominal pain
- Swollen glands
Symptoms for many autoimmune diseases are not permanent. They appear for a while and then disappear on their own. A Flare-up is a period when you are having the symptoms while remission is a period when the symptoms gades away.
Treatment For Autoimmune Diseases
There is no actual treatment available that can completely cure autoimmune diseases. There are only treatments for controlling the symptoms that can reduce your immune system to overreact and can somehow bring down inflammation, swelling, fatigue, and can also reduce pain.
Certain tested drugs can also be given to suppress the symptoms like ibuprofen and naproxen which are anti-inflammatory drugs. Eating a nutritious diet accompanied with some exercise daily can also help in relieving the symptoms.
Take Away
There are more than 80 different types of autoimmune diseases that exist today. Many times the symptoms for all such diseases look alike and do overlap in one way or the other. So specific treatments for such diseases are very hard and difficult to initiate.
It is scientifically verified that autoimmune diseases are less common in men than in women and being genetically transferred to younger generations also constitutes the case.
Several blood tests are available in medical science that can check for autoantibodies which help professionals to diagnose the conditions much better.
Medications for such autoimmune diseases are only to settle down the symptoms and make the immune system immune to overreaction to a certain level.
