What is an autoimmune disease?

Answer 1

Autoimmune disease are ones in which the person immune system attacks non-foreign bodies. Most popularly known are MS, rheumatoid arthritis, Lupus and Graves' Disease. Autoimmune diseases attack cells of connective tissue, muscles, nerves, and endocrine glands.

Answer 2

What are autoimmune diseases?

Our bodies have an immune system that protects us from disease and infection. But if you have an autoimmune disease, your immune system attacks itself by mistake, and you can get sick. Autoimmune diseases can affect connective tissue in your body (the tissue which binds together body tissues and organs). Autoimmune disease can affect many parts of your body, like your nerves, muscles, endocrine system (system that directs your body’s hormones and other chemicals), and digestive system.
Who is at risk for getting autoimmune diseases?

Most autoimmune diseases occur in women, and most often during their childbearing years. Some of these diseases also affect African American, American Indian, and Latina women more than white women. These diseases tend to run in families, so your genes, along with the way your immune system responds to certain triggers or things in the environment, affect your chances of getting one of these diseases. If you think you may have an autoimmune disease, ask your family members if they have had symptoms like yours. The good news is that if you have an autoimmune disease, there ARE things you can do to feel better!
What are the most common symptoms of autoimmune diseases?

There are more than 80 types of autoimmune diseases. Learning the symptoms of some of the more common autoimmune diseases can help you recognize the signs if you get one. But some autoimmune diseases share similar symptoms. This makes it hard for doctors to find out if you really have one of these diseases, and which one it might be. This can make your trip to doctors long and stressful. But if you are having symptoms that bother you, you need to persist to make sure you get relief. Below are descriptions of some common autoimmune diseases.


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Answer 3

An autoimmune disease occurs when the body's immune system becomes misdirected and attacks the organs, cells or tissues that it was designed to protect. About 75% of autoimmune diseases occur in women, most often during their childbearing years.

Answer 4

Very simply stated, autoimmune disorders occur when the immune system confuses normal body tissue, "self", with a foreign intruder, and attacks it. How can this happen? As a way to avoid being attacked by the immune system, some infectious organisms, such as bacteria and viruses, learn to expose only those parts of themselves that mimic "self" tissue. Bacteria and viruses are made from chains of protein as are our bodies. The foreign invader exposes a segment of it’s protein chain (called an antigen) that looks something like the protein chain of self tissue; and when the immune system mounts it’s attack against these foreign organisms by detecting it’s antigen, it inadvertently targets the "self tissue" to be attacked and destroyed.

Types of
Autoimmune Disease :
http://www.healinglight.com/autoimmune/types.html

Answer 5

Autoimmunity is when an organism fails to recognize it's own constituent parts and an immune response is acted upon itself. Simply put, an organism eats or destroys itself. Such a response is called an autoimmune disease. Autoimmune diseases are Diabetes mellitus, systemic lupus erythematosus, Grave's disease (thyroidism, goiter), and rheumatoid athritis.

Answer 6

an autoimmune disease is a disorder in your immune system. each disease affects a different area of the body. basically your immune system goes a little overboard and attacks intruders that dont exist. since the intruders are not there to take the attack your body part of choice gets the attack instead. mine is my intestines. each false attack causes bleeding ulcers in my intestines. FUN. they do not know what causes them and some are not affected by diet either. and NO it is NOT anything like aids.

Answer 7

that is the kind of disease when the immune system of the body over reacts and creats an immunereaction towards your own cells and tissues, as if they where bacterias or other harmful chemicals and molecules.

Answer 8

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Types of
Autoimmune Disease
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Autoimmune Disease
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Autoimmune Diseases

Very simply stated, autoimmune disorders occur when the immune system confuses normal body tissue, "self", with a foreign intruder, and attacks it. How can this happen? As a way to avoid being attacked by the immune system, some infectious organisms, such as bacteria and viruses, learn to expose only those parts of themselves that mimic "self" tissue. Bacteria and viruses are made from chains of protein as are our bodies. The foreign invader exposes a segment of it’s protein chain (called an antigen) that looks something like the protein chain of self tissue; and when the immune system mounts it’s attack against these foreign organisms by detecting it’s antigen, it inadvertently targets the "self tissue" to be attacked and destroyed.

Answer 9

essentially, your immune system begins attacking your own body.