Autoimmune disease
Visualization of narrower problems
Name(s):
Acquired autoimmunity
Autoimmune mediated syndromes
Auto-aggressive diseases
Nature
Autoimmune disease occurs because of autoimmunity -- an unnatural condition where the immune response, which normally protects the body from foreign invaders and substances backfires and attacks normal tissues. Antibodies and white cells are directed against parts of the body, causing inflammation and injury to certain tissues and organs. The triggers are usually unknown. There are over 40 such diseases including juvenile diabetes, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, myasthenia gravis and lupus.
Background
Every person has some degree of autoimmunity naturally, and it does not seem to do any harm. It is only a minority of cases where autoimmunity actually produces damage in the body, producing disease.
Genetics is involved in the development of autoimmune disease, but autoimmune diseases are not typical genetic diseases. Within families that are susceptible to autoimmunity, one family member may have lupus, another family member may have Sjogren's disease, a third member of the family may have rheumatoid arthritis.
Environmental factors account for around half of autoimmunity susceptibility. Few of the environmental triggers are known. Certain drugs can induce lupus. Certain environmental substances like silica that can induce scleroderma. It is suspected that there are certain dietary substances, such as iodine, that can exacerbate thyroid disease.
Incidence
Over 50 million people in the US suffer from a chronic condition related to an auto-immune disease.
Claim
The increasingly common auto-aggressive diseases are not completely understood by Western medical practitioners. They probably cannot be grasped in their entirety by a materially oriented culture, because the causes lies mostly on mental and spiritual levels.
Broader
Narrower
Aggravates
Reference(s)
Type
(E) Emanations of other problems