Autoimmune diseases: They are dangerous and becoming more common

Mar 31, 2024 Dr Zulfikar Bux, Features / Columnists, News

Dr. Zulfikar Bux
Emergency Medicine Specialist

Kaieteur News – When I was in medical school, we used to read about autoimmune diseases and not see these cases often. However, I am amazed how these diseases have sprung up and are

Autoimmune Disease

now becoming a norm in patient presentations. It is estimated that about 10% of the world population has some form of an autoimmune disease. Because their symptoms vary, they can sometimes be missed initially and be picked up when they would already cause extensive damage to our body. Today, I will shed some light on the different diseases that fall under the spectrum of autoimmune diseases and bring awareness to these life threatening conditions.

What are autoimmune diseases?

Normally, our immune system helps to fight off infections by killing foreign bacteria or viruses that get into our body. In autoimmune diseases, our immune system malfunctions and produces antibodies to attack our own healthy body cells, instead of attacking bacteria or viruses, causing damage to your body organs. There are over 100 different autoimmune diseases that affect different parts of your body. The list below are the more common ones:

Celiac disease
Crohn’s disease
Type 1 diabetes
Guillain-Barre syndrome
lupus
Multiple sclerosis
Pernicious anemia
Psoriasis
Autoimmune hepatitis
Rheumatoid arthritis
Scleroderma
Sjogren’s syndrome
Ulcerative colitis.

What causes autoimmune diseases?

It’s not clear why some people get autoimmune diseases. However, in many cases, those who get autoimmune diseases seem to have a genetic predisposition, which means you have a higher chance of getting the disease if other members of your family also have it.

You also have a greater chance of having a different autoimmune disease if a relative has one, e.g, one sibling has type 1 diabetes and another has coeliac disease. You can also have more than one autoimmune condition.

The following factors below increases your risk of having an autoimmune disease:

An infection
Stress
Medicines
Smoking
UV radiation.
Exposure to chemicals/toxins

What are common symptoms of autoimmune diseases?

Autoimmune diseases can affect most parts of your body and symptoms depend on the parts of your body that are affected by the disease. For example, if you have coeliac disease, it damages your small intestines and you may have gut symptoms such as diarrhea or abdominal pain. While each autoimmune disease will have specific symptoms, the following general symptoms tend to be associated with most autoimmune diseases:

Tiredness or fatigue
Weakness
loss of appetite
loss of weight
Feeling something is not quite right.
Body pains

How are autoimmune diseases diagnosed?

Each autoimmune disease has specific tests that are needed to diagnose them. However, your doctor may have a clue when he/she listens to your symptoms and examines you. Routine tests may offer clues to particular autoimmune diseases. However, a test called antinuclear antibody test is a general test that has a high degree of accuracy to detect if there is an autoimmune condition occurring in one’s body.

How are autoimmune diseases treated?

There isn’t a cuvre for autoimmune diseases. However, there are treatments available to manage the symptoms and slow down the progression of the autoimmune disease by suppressing the immune system. These may be in the form of tablets or injections and the affected individual will have to be regularly managed by a specialist depending on the type of autoimmune disease they have. Generally, the following lifestyle changes can also help to decrease flare ups and symptoms::

Maintaining a healthy diet and a healthy weight
getting enough rest and sleep
Doing exercises that suit you
Reducing stress and getting enough support.
Avoiding foods or chemicals that may trigger symptoms

While getting diagnosed with an autoimmune disease can feel like the end of the world, finding the right doctor and lifestyle can help bring things to a semblance to normalcy and let you live a productive life.

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