Autoimmune diseases happen when the body’s natural defense system mistakenly attacks normal cells for foreign ones, causing damage. There are more than 80 types of autoimmune conditions that can affect any part of your body and range widely in severity from mild to life-threatening.
Common Autoimmune Disease Symptoms
Autoimmune disorders are the leading cause of chronic illness affecting both wellness and disease. Despite their varying types, many autoimmune diseases have common symptoms including fatigue; joint pain or swelling; skin problems such as psoriasis or eczema; abdominal discomfort with bowel issues like constipation or diarrhea. Recurring fevers may also be present in those who suffer from lupus.
Symptoms can vary depending on which organ system is being impacted but they often overlap heavily enough that it’s hard for doctors to tell apart between different types unless extensive testing ensues.
The most common symptoms are,
- fatigue
- achy muscles
- swelling and redness
- low-grade fever
- trouble concentrating
- numbness and tingling in the hands and feet
- hair loss
- skin rashes
Autoimmune diseases are a puzzling phenomenon. Experts don’t quite know why your immune system turns on you, and it sometimes attacks the very things that make up who we are as people- our organs or tissues! There may be some theories about what could cause this kind of erasure from oneself but they’re still inconclusive at best right now because there’s no way for us to test any potential new clues without first figuring out how these strange interactions occur between human beings’ bodies and disease agents within their environment.
Autoimmune disorders, in general, cannot be cured, but the condition can often be controlled. Historically treatments include anti-inflammatory drugs -to reduce inflammation and pain; corticosteroids-used for an acute flare-up or to treat chronic symptoms like joint pain (especially when used with other medications), immunosuppressant drugs that inhibit your immune system’s ability (such as cyclosporine) physical therapy encouraging movement by targeting weakness.
Autoimmune diseases are on the rise, affecting more than 80 million people in America alone. Autoantibodies can be used to diagnose these conditions and treatments include medication that calms an overactive immune response or inflammation-lowering drugs.
