Learn about autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, lupus, fibromyalgia and others affect more than forty million people.
Instructions
Identify Autoimmune Disorders
1. The immune system in your body produces antibodies to fight against any infections whether it is bacterial, fungal, or cancers. Any micro organism that invades our body is kept under check and it is destroyed by the immune system in our body. Any intrusion by a micro organism alerts the immune system and it produces antibodies against that particular micro organism to destroy it which can lead to a variety of autoimmune disorders.
2. There are different types of immune system problems that are to be noted and can be divided into categories. One category of the problems is the immunodeficiency disorders. It can be primary or acquired. Another category of the immune systems disorders is the autoimmune disorders in which the immune system attacks its own cells. Results of such attacks can lead to autoimmune diseases such as, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, lupus, fibromyalgia to name a few.
3. Osteoarthritis, sometimes called degenerative joint disease, resulting when the cushioning cartilage in the joints break down, causing pain and stiffness. It is the most common type of arthritis, usually affecting people after the age of forty-five.Rheumatoid arthritis, is an autoimmune disease that inflames the lining of the joints. Rheumatoid arthritis is on of the most serious and disabling types of arthritis.Fibromyalgia, is a chronic pain disorder that causes fatigue, sleep disturbances, and widespread pain in the muscles and tendons, particularly in the neck, spine, shoulders and hips. It affects mostly women.Gout, is a painful condition that may attack both small and large joints, most often beginning in the beginning in the big toe. Gout affects mostly men and postmenopausal women.Lupus, is a serious autoimmune disorder that can inflame and damage joints and other connective tissues throughout the body. It affects mostly women.Juvenile arthritis refers to all types of arthritis that affect children. Rheumatoid arthritis is the most common type of juvenile arthritis along with other forms of lupus and ankylosing spondylitis, affecting children under the age of seventeen.Other types of autoimmune disorders include infections of the joints (infectious arthritis), fusing of the spine (ankylosing spondylitis) or a hardening of the skin and internal organs (scleroderma).
4. Researchers are unsure of what causes most kinds of autoimmune disorders. However, there are some known risk factors.
Tags: immune system, affects mostly, autoimmune disorders, micro organism, Rheumatoid arthritis, affects mostly women, ankylosing spondylitis