What should you know about ‘Autoimmune Disorders? – By Dr harold Gunatillake
When the body becomes its own enemy, our immune system instead of stopping foreign invaders from harming the body, makes the body the enemy and causes harm instead.
So in Autoimmune disorders, the enemy is within your body. On a basic level, autoimmune disease occurs because the body’s natural defenses — the immune system — attack the body’s own healthy tissue A healthy immune system defends the body against disease and infection and prevents it from harming the body. Sometimes it makes the body the enemy and may cause harm instead.
Normally, the immune system is a complex network of organs, cells, and proteins that defends the body against infection, whilst protecting the body’s own cells. The immune system keeps a record of every germ (microbe) it has ever defeated so it can recognize and destroy the microbe quickly if it enters the body again. As long as your immune system is running smoothly, you don’t notice that it’s there. But if it stops working properly – because it’s weak or can’t fight particularly aggressive germs – you get ill. Germs that your body has never encountered before are also likely to make you ill. Some germs will only make you ill the first time you come into contact with them.
An unhealthy immune system or an autoimmune disorder can affect any part of the body, including joints, skin, and internal organs such as the brain, kidneys, and lungs.
What are the tasks of the immune system?
Without an immune system, we would have no way to fight harmful things that enter our body from the outside or harmful changes that occur inside our body. The main tasks of the body’s immune system are to fight disease-causing germs (pathogens) like bacteria, viruses, parasites, or fungi, to remove them from the body, to recognize and neutralize harmful substances from the environment, and to fight disease-causing changes in the body, such as cancer cells.
Now what is an auto-immune disease?
Autoimmune disease condition in which the body’s immune system mistakes its own healthy tissues as foreign and attacks them. Most autoimmune diseases cause inflammation that can affect many parts of the body. The parts of the body affected depend on which autoimmune disease a person has.
What does it mean if a disease is autoimmune?
If you have an autoimmune disease, your immune system attacks the healthy cells of your organs and tissues by mistake. There are more than 80 types of autoimmune diseases. They can affect almost any part of your body. For example, alopecia aerate is an autoimmune disease of the skin that causes hair loss
Why Do They Happen?
Researchers think two things have to happen for you to have an autoimmune disorder. First, you get genes from your parents that make you more likely to have one. Then it’s triggered by something in your environment, like a virus.
Because more women are affected than men, doctors think certain hormones may play a role. A very common autoimmune disease is rheumatoid arthritis. This disorder affects your joints causing swelling and pain in the joints. Other common types of Autoimmune disorders are Systemic Lupus Erythematosus or Lupus, Scleroderma, spondylarthritis, and many others.
Autoimmune disorders can become dangerous when it affects the kidneys or causes bleeding in the lungs. When it comes to treatment, the sooner an autoimmune disorder is detected and brought to the attention of doctors, the earlier it can be treated, and the better we can prevent or reverse some of the organ damage.
Hope this video article was useful, stay safe and goodbye for now
Summarising…
The immune system is a complex network of organs, cells, and proteins that defend the body against infection, whilst protecting the body’s own cells. The immune system keeps a record of every germ (microbe) it has ever defeated so it can recognize and destroy the microbe quickly if it enters the body again. Abnormalities of the immune system can lead to allergic diseases, immunodeficiencies and autoimmune disorders.
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