Autoimmune diseases are disorders in which the body's immune system reacts against some of its own tissue and produces antibodies to it.

Examples

Ailments believed to be autoimmune diseases include Hashimoto thyroiditis and Graves disease, which are disorders of the thyroid gland; systemic lupus erythematosus, which attacks multiple organ systems; myasthenia gravis, a neuromuscular disease; and autoimmune hemolytic anemia, in which red blood cells are destroyed.

Diseases that are, at least in part, autoimmune disorders include rheumatoid arthritis, a connective tissue disease; pernicious anemia, a serious blood disorder; glomerulonephritis, a disorder that affects the kidneys; and Addison's disease, which attacks the adrenal glands. Other diseases that have autoimmune features are chronic active hepatitis (a liver disorder) and some forms of vasculitis (inflammation of blood vessel walls).

Causes

An autoimmune disease can begin in several ways:
  • A body substance that ordinarily never enters the bloodstream may do so because of injury. For example, a disease known as sympathetic ophthalmia occurs when tissue from the inside of an injured eye is released into the bloodstream. The tissue is recognized as "out of place" or "foreign" by the body's own immune system, and antibodies attack it, causing irritation in both the injured eye and in the noninjured eye.
  • A body substance may be altered by chemicals, sunlight, or a virus so that it seems foreign to the body's immune system. The substance is then attacked by antibodies. An example of this process is when the metal in a bracelet causes chemical changes in the skin on one's wrist. The body reacts against the "different" skin and attacks it, causing the rash of contact dermatitis.
  • Infection may cause an immune response so strong that the body reacts against some of its own normal tissues.
  • Genetic factors may play a role.
Treatment

Treatment is dependent on the particular disease present. Many treatments involve decreasing the patient's immune response. Other cases require more aggressive therapy to allow repair of damage caused by the body's attack on itself.



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