The immune system is meant to fight disease by killing off harmful viruses and bacteria, but with autoimmune diseases, your immune system attacks parts of your own body by mistake. Sjögren's syndrome was first identified in 1933 by Dr. Henrik Sjögren, a rare disorder of the immune system, has been proven to affect virtually every racial and ethnic group [1]. The immune system attacks the glands that make tears and saliva. The damage keeps these glands from working right and causes dry eyes and dry mouth. Doctors still do not know the exact cause of Sjögren’s syndrome, but they think it may be caused by a combination of genes and exposure to a virus or bacteria [2].
There are two types of Sjögren’s syndrome - primary and secondary. When Sjögren’s syndrome occurs by itself, it is called primary Sjögren’s syndrome and when it develops in someone who has another autoimmune disease it is called secondary Sjögren’s syndrome. About half of the time Sjögren’s occurs alone (primary), and the other half (secondary) occurs in the presence of
…show more content…
Diagnosis involves a complete medical history and physical examination but since symptoms of Sjögren’s mimic other conditions and diseases, Sjögren’s can often be disregarded or misdiagnosed [3]. In some cases, the doctor may want to biopsy the saliva glands. Although many patients experience dry eyes and dry mouth, Sjögren’s also cause dysfunction of organs such as the kidneys, gastrointestinal system, blood vessels, lungs, liver, pancreas, and the central nervous system. There is also a higher risk of developing lymphoma and as many as four million Americans are living with this disease. With up to four million Americans suffering from Sjögren’s, it is one of the most prevalent autoimmune diseases. Nine out of ten patients are women and on average, it takes nearly three years to receive a diagnosis of Sjögren’s
Lupus is a chronic inflammatory disease of unknown cause that can affect virtually any part of the body. The medical term for Lupus is Systemic Lupus Erythematosus or better known as SLE. With Lupus there is a malfunction in some of the cells of the immune system. "In Lupus, the body overreacts to an unknown stimulus and makes to many antibodies, or proteins directed against body tissue. Thus, Lupus is called an autoimmune disease. ”#
Lyme disease has emerged as the most common vector borne infectious disease in the United States and has presented a growing challenge to public health officials over the past three decades. The infection represents a significant disease burden to the population of the United States with nearly 30,000 new cases diagnosed per year and an estimated additional 270,000 annual incident cases that go unreported. The disease results from a bacterial infection with the spirochete bacteria B. burgdorferi. This bacterial agent is transmitted to humans from the bite of a tick and is most commonly associated Ixodes species blacklegged ticks. These ticks represent the largest genus of the family Ixodidae and mainly inhabit temperate forest or grassland
1. Swelling of lips and dysphasia with questionable early Stevens-Johnson syndrome. 2. Rheumatoid arthritis class 3, stage 4.
Symptoms of the disease we now know as lupus were first described in the Middle Ages, though physicians of the time did not know the cause of the disease. French physician Pierre Cazenave was the first person to give a detailed description of the disease in 1833, though it was only a description of the face lesions that can be caused by the disease (Mallavarapu). Lupus was not classified as an auto-immune disease till the late 1940s when it was determined how the disease destroyed tissue and cause inflammation (St. Thomas Lupus Trust).
Lupus is a chronic, autoimmune disease that causes swelling, pain, and inflammation throughout the body. An autoimmune disease is when the white blood cells inside a person’s body cannot tell the difference between healthy tissue and foreign invaders. That cause the white blood cells to attack and kill the tissue in body systems, including organs like the heart, brain, lungs, and kidneys. When diagnosing for lupus it is extremely difficult. This is because the signs and symptoms of Lupus often imitate those of other diseases. The sign that differentiates Lupus from other diseases, is a facial rash that resembles a butterfly across the cheeks and nose. This is an often seen sign but it doesn’t always occur. There are several types of Lupus including
It is an autoimmune condition. It is also inherited and also can be associated with medical conditions.
Under Social Security Disability Insurance, immune system disorders are evaluated if it causes dysfunction in one or more components of your immune system. The dysfunction can be caused by a couple different things but, as the official Social Security Website, SSA.gov states, dysfunction often results due to problems in “antibody production, impaired cell-mediated immunity, a combined type of antibody/cellular deficiency, impaired phagocytosis, or complement deficiency.”
Rheumatic fever is classed as an autoimmune disease because the inflammation is probably caused by the immune system’s reaction to the bacteria. While rheumatic fever can develop at any age, children between five and 14 years are at increased risk. Without treatment, the disease can lead to serious complications such as rheumatic heart disease.
Have you, a friend or family member been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease? They include multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, Crohn’s disease, and more than 80 other chronic, lifelong diseases. Attend the Illuminations Luncheon on Oct. 28 and learn how Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason (BRI) is “Turning the Tide Against Autoimmune Diseases.” Read More ...
To understand autoimmune diseases, the general characteristic of autoimmunity must be addressed. Autoimmunity is defined, in short, as “ misdirected immune response”. A healthy person is equipped with the mechanisms necessary to defend the body from pathogens within the immune system. When autoimmunity is present in an individual, something within the immune system is
There are many different types of diseases one’s body can suffer from, but one unique type of disease is an autoimmune disease. What makes autoimmune diseases different than other diseases is with an autoimmune disease the body ends up attacking itself. “The immune system inappropriately identifies its own proteins as foreign and mounts a response to destroy these self-proteins” (Linton, 2016). One in particular autoimmune disease is Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, also known as SLE. SLE has a debilitating impact on the body, is defined by a very distinctive mark on the face, difficult to diagnose, and currently has no cure.
Immune deficiencies are classified as primary immune deficiencies and secondary immune deficiencies. Primary immune deficiencies are named “primary” since the immune system is the first main cause and most of them are genetic abnormalities that may be passed down throughout generations. On the other hand, secondary immune deficiencies are so called as they have been generated by other conditions.
With autoimmune diseases, the underlying issue is similar. The body's immune system becomes unable to recognize healthy cells from diseased cells. Consequently, the immune’s own defense mechanism produces antibodies that attack the normal tissues and cells. Autoimmune diseases
A rare and serious disease that is uncommonly associated with Sjögren's syndrome is primary biliary cirrhosis, an autoimmune disease of the liver that leads to scarring of the liver tissue.
The detection of autoantibodies against intracellular targets called antinuclear antibodies (ANA) is important in the diagnosis of systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases (SARD) such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), Sjögren's syndrome (SjS), mixed connective tissue diseases (MCTD), systemic sclerosis (SSc) and idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM). Testing for ANA is therefore a logical first step in the differential evaluation of patients when systemic autoimmune etiology is suspected. Timely diagnosis of SARD is challenging due to the wide spectrum of overlapping symptoms. Furthermore, while the frequency of ANA is highest in patients with SARD, these antibodies are also found in