Autoimmune Diseases - Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis And List Of Autoimmune Diseases

2024 Author: Josephine Shorter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-07 17:49

Autoimmune diseases

Before proceeding with the story about the origin of autoimmune diseases, let's understand what immunity is. Probably everyone knows that this word doctors call our ability to protect ourselves from disease. But how does this protection work?

In the human bone marrow, special cells are produced - lymphocytes. Immediately after entering the bloodstream, they are considered immature. And the maturation of lymphocytes occurs in two places - the thymus and lymph nodes. The thymus (thymus gland) is located in the upper part of the chest, just behind the sternum (upper mediastinum), and there are lymph nodes in several parts of our body at once: in the neck, in the armpits, in the groin.

Those lymphocytes that have undergone maturation in the thymus are given the appropriate name - T-lymphocytes. And those that have matured in the lymph nodes are called B-lymphocytes, from the Latin word "bursa" (bag). Both types of cells are needed to create antibodies - weapons against infections and foreign tissues. An antibody reacts strictly to its corresponding antigen. That is why, having had measles, the child will not get immunity to mumps, and vice versa.

The meaning of vaccination is precisely to "acquaint" our immunity with the disease by injecting a tiny dose of the pathogen, so that later, with a massive attack, the stream of antibodies destroyed the antigens. But why then, from year to year having been ill with a cold, we do not acquire persistent immunity to it, you ask. Because the infection is constantly mutating. And this is not the only danger to our health - sometimes the lymphocytes themselves begin to behave like an infection and attack their own body. Why this is happening, and whether it is possible to cope with it, will be discussed today.

What are autoimmune diseases?

As you might guess from the name, autoimmune diseases are diseases provoked by our own immunity. For some reason, white blood cells are considered alien and dangerous to a certain type of cell in our body. That is why autoimmune diseases are complex, or systemic. A whole organ or a group of organs is affected at once. The human body launches, figuratively speaking, a program of self-destruction. Why is this happening, and is it possible to protect yourself from this misfortune?

Causes of autoimmune diseases

Among lymphocytes, there is a special "caste" of nursing cells: they are tuned to the protein of the body's own tissues, and if any part of our cells dangerously changes, gets sick or dies, the orderlies will have to destroy this unnecessary waste. At first glance, this is a very useful function, especially when you consider that special lymphocytes are under the strict control of the body. But alas, the situation sometimes develops, as if according to the scenario of an action-packed action movie: everything that is capable of getting out of control gets out of it and takes up arms.

The reasons for the uncontrolled reproduction and aggression of lymphocytes-nurses can be roughly divided into two types: internal and external.

Internal reasons:

• Gene mutations of type I, when lymphocytes stop identifying a certain type of cells in an organism. Having inherited this genetic baggage from their ancestors, a person is likely to get sick with the same autoimmune that his closest relatives suffered from. And since the mutation concerns the cells of a particular organ or organ system, it will be, for example, toxic goiter or thyroiditis;
• Type II gene mutations, when nursing lymphocytes proliferate uncontrollably and cause a systemic autoimmune disease such as lupus or multiple sclerosis. Such ailments are almost always hereditary.

External reasons:

• Very severe, lingering infectious diseases, after which the immune cells begin to behave inappropriately;
• Harmful physical effects from the environment, such as radiation or solar radiation;
• The "trick" of disease-causing cells that pretend to be very similar to our own, only diseased cells. Lymphocyte nurses cannot figure out who is who, and they take up arms against both.

Symptoms of autoimmune diseases

Because autoimmune diseases are so diverse, it is extremely difficult to isolate common symptoms for them. But all diseases of this type develop gradually and haunt a person all his life. Very often, doctors are lost in conjectures and cannot make a diagnosis, since the symptoms look erased, or turn out to be characteristic of many other, much better known and widespread diseases. But the success of treatment or even saving the patient's life depends on the timely diagnosis of the patient: autoimmune diseases can be very dangerous.

Consider the symptoms of some of them:

• Rheumatoid arthritis affects the joints, especially the small ones on the hands. It manifests itself not only in pain, but also in swelling, numbness, high fever, a feeling of compression in the chest and general muscle weakness;
• Multiple sclerosis is a disease of nerve cells, as a result of which a person begins to experience strange tactile sensations, lose sensitivity, and see worse. Sclerosis is accompanied by muscle spasms and numbness, as well as memory impairment;
• Type 1 diabetes makes a person dependent on insulin for life. And his first symptoms are frequent urination, constant thirst and ravenous appetite;

• Vasculitis is a dangerous autoimmune disease that affects the circulatory system. Vessels become fragile, organs and tissues seem to be destroyed and bleed from the inside. The prognosis, alas, is unfavorable, and the symptoms are pronounced, therefore, the diagnosis is rarely difficult;
• Lupus erythematosus is called systemic because it damages almost all organs. The patient experiences pain in the heart, cannot breathe normally, and constantly gets tired. On the skin, red, rounded convex spots of irregular shape appear, which itch and are covered with scabs;
• Pemphigus is a terrible autoimmune disease, the symptoms of which are huge blisters on the surface of the skin filled with lymph;
• Hashimoto's thyroiditis is an autoimmune disease of the thyroid gland. Its symptoms: drowsiness, rough skin, severe weight gain, fear of cold;
• Hemolytic anemia is an autoimmune disease in which white blood cells take up arms against red ones. Lack of red blood cells leads to increased fatigue, lethargy, drowsiness, fainting;
• Graves' disease is the antipode of Hashimoto's thyroiditis. With her, the thyroid gland begins to produce too much of the hormone thyroxine, so the symptoms are the opposite: weight loss, heat intolerance, increased nervous irritability;
• Myasthenia gravis affects muscle tissue. As a result, a person is constantly tormented by weakness. The eye muscles get tired especially quickly. Symptoms of myasthenia gravis can be treated with special medications that increase muscle tone;
• Scleroderma is a disease of connective tissues, and since such tissues are found in our body almost everywhere, the disease is called systemic, like lupus. Symptoms are very diverse: degenerative changes occur in the joints, skin, blood vessels and internal organs.

It is important to know! If any person becomes worse on vitamins, macro and microelements, amino acids, as well as when using adaptogens (ginseng, eleutherococcus, sea buckthorn and others) - this is the first sign of autoimmune processes in the body!

List of autoimmune diseases

A long and sad list of autoimmune diseases would hardly fit in our article. We will name the most common and well-known ones. By the type of lesion, autoimmune diseases are divided into:

• Systemic;
• Organ-specific;
• Mixed.

Systemic autoimmune diseases include:

• Lupus erythematosus;
• Scleroderma;
• Some types of vasculitis;
• Rheumatoid arthritis;
• Behcet's disease;
• Polymyositis;
• Sjogren's syndrome;
• Antiphospholipid syndrome.

To organ-specific, that is, affecting a specific organ or system of the body, autoimmune diseases include:

• Joint diseases - spondyloarthropathy and rheumatoid arthritis;
• Endocrine diseases - diffuse toxic goiter, Graves syndrome, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, the first type of diabetes mellitus;
• Nervous autoimmune diseases - myasthenia gravis, multiple sclerosis, Guien-Bare syndrome;
• Diseases of the liver and gastrointestinal tract - biliary cirrhosis of the liver, ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, cholangitis, autoimmune hepatitis and pancreatitis, celiac disease;
• Diseases of the circulatory system - neutropenia, hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenic purpura;
• Autoimmune kidney diseases - some types of vasculitis affecting the kidneys, Goodpasture's syndrome, glomerulopathies and glomerulonephritis (a whole group of diseases);
• Skin ailments - vitiligo, psoriasis, lupus erythematosus and vasculitis with cutaneous localization, pemphingoid, alopecia, autoimmune urticaria;
• Pulmonary diseases - again vasculitis with lung involvement, as well as sarcoidosis and fibrosing alveolitis;
• Autoimmune heart diseases - myocarditis, vasculitis, and rheumatic fever.

Diagnosis of autoimmune diseases

A diagnosis can be made using a special blood test. Doctors know which types of antibodies are indicative of a particular autoimmune disease. But the problem is that sometimes a person suffers and gets sick for many years before the general practitioner even thinks to send the patient to the laboratory for tests for autoimmune diseases. If you have strange symptoms, be sure to consult several highly reputable specialists at once. Do not rely on the opinion of one doctor, especially if he doubts the diagnosis and the choice of treatment methods.

On the subject: An effective nutritional method for the treatment of autoimmune diseases

Which doctor treats autoimmune diseases?

As we said above, there are organ-specific autoimmune diseases that are treated by specialized doctors. But when it comes to systemic or mixed forms, you may need the help of several specialists at once:

• Neurologist;
• Hematologist;
• Rheumatologist;
• Gastroenterologist;
• Cardiologist;
• Nephrologist;
• Pulmonologist;
• Dermatologist;
• Endocrinologist.

The author of the article: Kuzmina Vera Valerievna | Endocrinologist, nutritionist

Education: Diploma of the Russian State Medical University named after NI Pirogov with a degree in General Medicine (2004). Residency at Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry, diploma in Endocrinology (2006).