Autoimmune Disease Symptoms and Causes
The immune system of our body is an assemblage of cells, tissues and molecules which team up to protect the body against any bout from foreign bodies like bacteria, viruses, fungi, etc. Our body relies on its immune system to fend off diseases and many other ailments. When the system becomes altered in such a way that rather than guarding the body, it starts to attack it and cause impairment, we are said to have an autoimmune disease. Autoimmune disease symptoms differ from disease to disease and from patient to patient. In health class, you are taught about how the body has its own defense mechanism called the immune system. In a healthy body, the immune system works to shoo away infection and keep the body from developing colds, flues and other infections.
It works around the clock to guard the body from outside impostors. But, what happens when the immune system does not work as it ought to? It stops shielding the body and instead, begins to attack it. That is what autoimmune diseases are. Autoimmune diseases are when the body starts to attack its own tissues and organs. This can prove fairly difficult for the host body and over time without the appropriate care, it can cause the individual to become seriously ill or even die. It is not an easy situation to endure and it is one that must be continuously monitored at all times. In this blog, we will discuss autoimmune diseases and how they can affect our body.
What do we mean by autoimmunity or autoimmune disease?
A procedure in which the body’s immune system causes disease by erroneously attacking healthy cells, organs or tissues in the body that is vital for good health. Your own immune system falsely attacks and abolishes your body tissue that it believes to be alien. Precisely, autoimmune diseases are complaints in which the body’s immune system responds against itself and yields antibodies to attack its own healthy cells and tissue. Autoimmune disorders can be directed largely at one portion of the body, such as the thyroid gland or the pancreas, or they can spread extensively throughout the body, as in the situation of diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus. Autoimmune diseases incline to run in families, with females more likely than males to develop an autoimmune disorder.
What are some examples of autoimmune diseases?
An autoimmune disease is an outcome of breakdown or malfunction of the immune system. There are more than one hundred immune system ailments. There are many, many autoimmune ailments to pick from. They range from acute disseminated encephalomyelitis to, Graves’ disease, Narcolepsy to Wegener’s granulomatosis. Each disease is poles apart in how it demonstrates itself. There are some ailments such as Schizophrenia that many individuals do not comprehend is an autoimmune disease. These are serious syndromes that have caused depression to those that have them. But each day more and more research is done to comprehend why these diseases develop and if there is an antidote that can be found or manufactured. But until that time, maximum patients have to live with the disease and its effects their everyday lives. It is not a laidback life and it is one filled with several trips to numerous doctors.
Autoimmune Disease Symptoms:
Autoimmune diseases vary extensively by each disease. There are countless symptoms that can seem alike but are in fact diverse diseases. Symptoms vary contingent on which autoimmune disease you have, the most common that is shared amid the autoimmune disorders are joint pain and weariness.
- RA (Rheumatoid Arthritis) joint pain, joint deformities, muscle ache, weakness, fatigue and weight loss.
- MS (multiple sclerosis) numbness and prickling in the extremities, trouble with balance and coordination, complications with walking or speaking, tremors and even paralysis.
- Lupus – joint pain, inflammation, skin rashes, lethargy, sensitivity to sun, purple fingers or toes from cold or anxiety and inflammation in the legs or around the eyes.
- Type1 Diabetes raised blood sugar, fatigue, amplified thirst and urination, nausea, vomiting, augmented appetite and weight loss
- Graves Disease (overactive thyroid) insomnia, prickliness, inexplicable weight loss, weakness, protuberant eyes, wobbly hands, brittle hair.
- Hashimotos Thyroiditis (under-active) tiredness, cold sensitivity, weight gain, weakness, tough skin, constipation, and depression
- Ulcerative Colitis – diarrhea, belly pain, weariness, weight loss, loss of appetite, rectal bleeding, skin lesions and joint pain.
The chief reason for this is that this hefty list of autoimmune disease symptoms can be related to any one of a number of ailments and diseases. Many of these illnesses can only be determined by wide-ranging testing that voluminous people are not eager to undertake unless they have undeniably no choice. In the case of multiple sclerosis, one of the most upsetting autoimmune diseases the diagnosis might be the result of eradicating all other possibilities.
Possibly, the most commonly known of all autoimmune disease symptoms is weariness. This befalls because the body is continuously fighting against itself trying to remedy a problem that does not actually exist. Rather than curing a real problem, the ailment is in fact attacking and terminating the portion of the body that is affected. On top of this there is typically a certain degree of swelling that goes with any of these diseases and since your body has to battle this as well it only adds to the tiredness.
Another one of the very common autoimmune ailment symptoms is pain. This pain manifests itself in the joints, muscles and a multiplicity of tender spots all over the individual’s body. Much of this discomfort is a direct outcome of the immune system’s stubborn attacks on the body. Some of it is because of fevers which are also symptoms related with an autoimmune disease. For instance, Rheumatoid arthritis is a very common autoimmune disease and is categorized by the individual being in a great deal of pain in the affected joints.
Many of the common autoimmune disease symptoms are related with MS such as dizziness, hitches with mental clarity or vague headedness, mood swings and bladder or bowel control glitches. Variations in your weight, most often marked by an obvious weight gain are also considered a sign of glitches with your autoimmune system. In other patients, the same diseases can cause a weight loss. This makes it easy to see why it can be so problematic to pinpoint the exact ailment based merely on the symptoms.
If you observe that you struggle with a reappearance of any of these autoimmune disease symptoms, you should speak to your doctor. He will be able to set you up with supplementary testing to see if you have any kind of disease that needs treatment and then set you up with the apt treatments. While many of these ailments have no known cure, the veracious therapy can leave you symptom free for many years at a time. You should be familiar with all the symptoms appropriately.
Types of autoimmune diseases:
Autoimmune diseases can be categorized into 2 types:
- Type1: Non organ Specific
- Type 2: Organ specific
The first type of the disease can be spread throughout the whole body. Some of the non-organ specific disorders are myasthenia gravis, multiple sclerosis, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. The second category is specific to a specific organ of the body. Some of the organ specific disorders are chronic hepatitis-a disease that affects the liver, Addison’s disease disturbing the adrenal glands, pernicious anemia which affects the belly, diabetes (insulin dependent) affecting the pancreas and Hashimoto’s disease that affects the thyroid glands.
How and why you may have an autoimmune disease?
Most importantly, you must have an understanding of your immune system in layman’s term. Your immune system is made up of four portions and each portion has its unique function. The human immune system is very complex, a testimony to the ingenuity and mystery of human creation in that it encompasses the entire human body, not just some body organs and tissues. Its elementary function is to notify the body of imminent dangers of viruses and bacteria (regrettably, voluminous of us just ignore these tale-telling signs, or we just fail to decrypt these body messages). Furthermore, the immune system evokes these foreign attackers or antigens (the aim is to classify similar invaders in future for better disease-prevention purpose). Furthermore, the white blood cells in the immune system create antibodies, which are chemicals that attach to and bout specific antigens. These white blood cells also send messages that cause swelling in reaction to an injury or antigen, and thus instrumental in averting septicity from spreading elsewhere.
In other words, they get chemical commands to nip the disease or septicity in the bud. In brief, the immune system serves diverse functions of identification, activation, mobilization and refurbishment. It is similar to a police department in a city: it distinguishes the city’s potential crime scenario, takes sturdy measures to defend the public, trains the local police force and controls the law and order of the city. Autoimmunity befalls when the immune system attacks its own cells, misidentifying them for foreign invaders. To exemplify, in myasthenia gravis, which is an autoimmune disease, it is an autoantibody attack on the receptor accountable for the communiqué between the nervous system and voluntary muscles and thus instigating miscommunication that leads to muscle weakness, a symbolic characteristic of myasthenia gravis.
Primary causes of the autoimmune disease:
There are manifold reasons of autoimmune diseases. Environmental agents can elicit the onset or worsening of an autoimmune disease. Heavy metal, particularly, mercury, is said to play a crucial role, although the medical community has little info on how or why it might be the culprit of many immune syndromes. Another imperative element in the reasons of autoimmune diseases is the genetic factor. Regrettably, there is little you can do about your genetic factors inherited from your parents. Lifestyle and diet might also trigger an attack. For instance, insufficient vitamin D from the sun might be associated in the disease; however, too much ultraviolet from the sun might not be advantageous to the immune system. A diet with too much gluten, which is a protein, might cause inflammation in the small intestine, occasioning in pain and consequently blocking the absorption of nutrients.
If you are allergic to gluten, it might cause celiac disease, which is an autoimmune complaint. The iodine in seafood might be problematic to mice, although it has not been verified to affect humans. All things considered, an autoimmune disease might be caused by not just one element, but an amalgamation of numerous factors. Given the intricacy of the disease, it is significant to have a holistic methodology to treating the disease and disorder. Using medicines alone is an insufficient approach to autoimmune diseases. Furthermore, medicines cannot cure the disease: at best, it only tries to subdue some of the symptoms by compromising the immune system.
Some tips for dealing with these diseases:
The superlative tip for dealing with autoimmune diseases is to lead a healthy life. This means eating a composed diet rich in fresh veggies and fruits. It also means working out daily to aid the body stay strong and active. You can also diminish the effect of the ailment on your life by learning how to meditate to take your mind off your pains and discomforts. You should also get abundant rest. Some nights this might seem impossible when the sickness is active but you can get sleeping medicine and better sleeping techniques from your doctor. It might also help to speak to a therapist about your ailment and how you can take the stresses and pressures of work and life off your shoulders.
You must keep your body healthy and that embraces keeping your mind healthy as well. Also, there is no superlative remedy other than self-care. If one takes appropriate care of themselves without leading an unhealthy life, these sicknesses can be barred. Doctors recommend a diet exceedingly rich in vitamins and minerals can help decrease the effects of the auto immune disease.
