Autoimmune diseases develop when the body’s immune system mistakenly considers its healthy cells as harmful and attempts to eliminate them. This results in destruction of healthy tissues, the change in the way of functioning of organs, and abnormal growth of organs. They are common disorders as there are more than eighty types of autoimmune diseases.
Table of Contents
ToggleHere are some common ones from the autoimmune disease list:
- Autoimmune Hepatitis is a condition where the immune system attacks healthy liver cells.
- Celiac Disease where the affected person exhibits severe sensitivity to grain and wheat gluten leading to intestinal damage.
- Grave’s disease where the thyroid gland produces excessive thyroid hormone.
- Inflammatory Bowel Disease includes diseases like ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s Disease.
- Multiple Sclerosis affects the brain and spinal cord. The disease causes coordination and balance difficulties, weakness, and other problems.
- Rheumatoid Arthritis is where the immune system attacks the lining of joints leading to their inflammation.
- Autoimmune Diabetes, also known as Type 1 diabetes, in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin.
- Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis in which the thyroid gland does not produce enough thyroid hormone.
A person can have more than one autoimmune disease, such as autoimmune hepatitis and type 1 diabetes. Autoimmune diseases can affect anyone irrespective of age, gender, ethnicity, and socio-economic status though women are more predisposed.
Most of the autoimmune diseases occur either due to environmental factors or due to heredity. They are incurable. However, a prompt diagnosis and appropriate treatment plan along with a best full body check up in Patna can help reduce the complications and delay the onset of severe stages of the disease. In some cases, autoimmune diseases can cause life-threatening conditions. Timely diagnosis and adherence to the treatment plan can help in the disease management and improve the quality of life of the affected person.
Contact for a full health check up in Patna if you or someone you are with experiences unexplained symptoms like continual fatigue, light-headedness, vomiting, fever that does not go away, unusual weight gain or weight loss or any other symptom that seems unusual.
Seek immediate medical assistance and get a full body checkup in Patna without delay in case of symptoms like laboured breathing, confused mental condition, palpitations or chest pain, lack of urination, severe pain, drowsiness, and persistent bleeding.
Though research is still underway on establishing or negating a relation between autoimmune disease and covid, so far there is no relation between the two. Autoimmunity makes the immune system overactive leading it to attack its own cells. This does not mean it is better off at fighting infection, it means it could fight the virus but it is also susceptible to unnecessary inflammation. In most cases, it is better to continue on your medications to avoid a flare up and keep in touch with your neurologist in boring Road Patna.
Autoimmune Disease Symptoms
The symptoms may vary depending on the individual case and type of disease. Most autoimmune diseases in their initial stages have symptoms like swelling, low-grade fever, rashes, fatigue, and trouble concentrating. These symptoms are subtle and can easily be mistaken for other conditions like viral infections.
Some autoimmune diseases like Autoimmune Thyroiditis have no visible symptoms. While others, such as Multiple Sclerosis, can have a severely debilitating effect like paralysis. Some autoimmune diseases in acute stages can cause attacks or flare-ups, while others can become chronic
Vague symptoms of autoimmune diseases are fatigue, general discomfort, dizziness, body aches, and unexplained weight loss or gain. Some symptoms might indicate a life-threatening stage of autoimmune disease. They should immediately consult a medical facility without delay. Such autoimmune disease symptoms include bleeding problems, confused mental state, palpitations or chest pain, high fever, non-urination, passing out or unresponsiveness, breathing problems, seizures, suicidal thoughts, and wet cough with green, yellow, or white phlegm.
Causes of Autoimmune Diseases
A healthy immune system recognises harmful foreign particles in the body like bacteria, viruses, toxins, and cancer cells. The system tries to destroy them by producing antibodies. Autoimmune disease occurs when the system is unable to differentiate between the healthy cells and harmful cells, mistakes the healthy cells as harmful and attacks them with antibodies called autoantibodies.
Science does not fully understand what causes the immune system to behave the way it does and attack healthy cells. However, certain factors increase the risk of autoimmune disease in some people. Reach out to your gastroenterologist In Boring Road Patna to know more.
Autoimmune Risks Factors
The presence of certain factors increases the chances of developing autoimmune risk for diseases. They are
- Heredity: Certain diseases like multiple Sclerosis tend to run in families. Having a first blood relative with an autoimmune disease increases your risk.
- Weight: Being obese increases the risk of certain autoimmune disorders like rheumatoid arthritis.
- Gender: More than three-quarters of the people affected by the autoimmune disease are women.
Certain drugs used to treat autoimmune diseases can compromise the immune system. Mostly, old age also makes the immune system weak. Such people are more prone to autoimmune covid risk.
Diagnosis of Autoimmune Disorders
Autoimmune disorders are hard to diagnose, especially in the initial stages, as the symptoms are similar to those of milder conditions like viral infections. Depending on the disease, the methods include:
- Physical examination
- Blood tests
- Biopsy
- X rays
- Medical history
Treatment of Autoimmune Disease
Most autoimmune diseases are not curable. However, a proper treatment plan can help reduce the severity of the disease or delay the onset of complications in people diagnosed with autoimmune disease.
Treatment plans will vary depending on several factors like type and severity of disease, medical history of the patient, age, gender, and other factors. The autoimmune treatment is aimed at
- Lessening or relieving the symptoms
- Replacing the substances which the body is incapable of producing
- Suppress the immune system, so it does not attack healthy tissues.
The recommended treatment plan with a full health check up in Patna may include one or more of the following:
- Anti-inflammatory medications to reduce inflammation
- Corticosteroids to reduce flare ups and inflammation
- Pain Killing medications
- Immunosuppressant medications to control the hyperactive immune system
- Treatment for deficiency like insulin in case of diabetes
- Surgery
- Physical therapy to increase mobility
Complications of Autoimmune Disease
Autoimmune Disease can cause severe complications and can even be life-threatening in some cases. You can minimise the risk by following the treatment plan designed specifically for you by your doctor. There can be different complications depending on the type and stage of disease and may include blood problems, cancer, frequent infections, bone and joint damage, nervous system problems, organ damage, heart disease, and the development of other autoimmune diseases.
An autoimmune disease is an attack on healthy cells of the body by its own immune system. The compromised immune system triggers an attack to destroy normal healthy cells as it is unable to distinguish between the healthy and the harmful substances. Reach out to your physician doctor in Patna Boring Road.