What are autoimmune diseases?
Your immune system is made up of organs and cells meant to protect your body from bacteria, parasites, viruses and cancer cells. An autoimmune disease is the result of the immune system accidentally attacking your body instead of protecting it. It's unclear why your immune system does this.
There are over 100 known autoimmune diseases. Common ones include lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
Autoimmune diseases can affect many types of tissues and nearly any organ in your body. They may cause a variety of symptoms including pain, tiredness (fatigue), rashes, nausea, headaches, dizziness and more. Specific symptoms depend on the exact disease.
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How do autoimmune diseases work?
Experts don’t know why your immune system turns on you. It’s like it can no longer tell the difference between what’s healthy and what’s not — between what’s you and what’s an invader. There are some theories about why this happens, but experts aren’t completely sure.
What’s a list of autoimmune diseases?
Some common autoimmune diseases include:
Diseases of the joints and muscles:
- Psoriatic arthritis.
- Rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
- Sjögren’s syndrome.
- Systemic lupus erythematosus (Lupus, SLE).
Diseases of the digestive tract:
Diseases of the endocrine system:
Diseases of the skin:
Diseases of the nervous system:
- Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP).
- Guillain-Barre syndrome.
- Multiple sclerosis (MS).
Other diseases:
- Myasthenia gravis.
- Autoimmune vasculitis.
- Type 1 diabetes.
- Pernicious anemia.
- Vasculitis.
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How common are autoimmune diseases?
Many autoimmune diseases are more common in women than in men. The diseases are common — 1 in 15 people in the U.S. have an autoimmune disease. One million people in the U.S. have lupus and 1.4 million have Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis.
Are autoimmune diseases genetic?
Yes. Some autoimmune diseases run in families.
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Are autoimmune diseases contagious?
No.
Are autoimmune diseases fatal?
Autoimmune diseases are one of the top 10 causes of death in women in all age groups (up to age 64).
How do autoimmune diseases affect you if you're trying to get pregnant?
Some autoimmune diseases can affect your ability to get pregnant and some have adverse effects on pregnancy. You may need fertility treatments to get pregnant. You might also want to wait until your disease is in the remission stage to try to conceive.
There is a higher risk for stillbirth or preterm birth if you have lupus. If you have myasthenia gravis, you may experience trouble breathing.
