4 Common Immune System Diseases

Autoimmune Diseases: Types, Symptoms, Causes & More

When your immune system detects the presence of a virus, bacteria, or foreign substances in your body, it triggers the production of antibodies or immunoglobulins. Antibodies will recognize and get rid of foreign substances, also called antigens. However, sometimes you may have a disease that makes it difficult for your immune system to differentiate between foreign and healthy cells. Therefore your body produces antibodies that attack your body’s healthy tissues instead of fighting infections. A Silver Spring immunology specialist can diagnose and treat diseases that may weaken your immune system and make you susceptible to infections and other severe health issues.

Various studies show that autoimmune disease may come due to particular drugs, viruses, or bacteria that cause changes that confuse the working of the immune system. The nature of your genes may make you prone to an autoimmune disorder.

Remember that an illness that attacks your immune system may lead to body tissue destruction, abnormal organ growth, and changes in the function of different organs, including the skin, red blood cells, endocrine glands, and blood vessels. Consequently, below are the common diseases that may attack your immune system.

  1. Rheumatoid arthritis

Also simply called RA, rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune and inflammatory illness that is characterized by your immune system attacking and destroying healthy cells in your joints mistakenly. Thus, RA often affects your hands, wrists, and knees.

A knee, hand, or wrist joint with rheumatoid arthritis has an inflamed joint lining, which causes joint tissue damage. The tissue damage will make you suffer from chronic, severe pain and loss of balance.

  1. Lupus

Also called systemic lupus erythematosus, lupus is a long-lasting autoimmune disorder that can cause various symptoms throughout your body.

Because the immune system mistakenly attacks and harms healthy tissues, lupus may affect your joints, skin, and internal organs such as kidneys, lungs, and heart.

Signs and symptoms you may have lupus include sunlight sensitivity, organ problems, blood clots, anemia, joint and muscle pain, dry eyes, fatigue, and shortness of breath. For example, you may know you are sensitive to sunlight because your skin lesions appear or worsen because of sun exposure.

  1. Inflammatory bowel disease

Inflammatory bowel disease is an ongoing inflammation of the tissues of your digestive tract. Common inflammatory bowel disease types are Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

Although Crohn’s disease often affects the small intestine, it can also affect the upper gastrointestinal tract and large intestine. On the other hand, ulcerative colitis usually affects the lining of your colon and rectum.

  1. Type 1 diabetes

Type 1 diabetes is an organ-specific autoimmune disorder characterized by the body’s immune system wrongly targeting and destroying cells in the pancreas that make insulin. As a result, there is less insulin production. The insulin hormone is vital for helping the body regulate its blood sugar levels.

Since there is inadequate insulin production, your bloodstream has excess sugar. Therefore, at some point, you may have to deal with different health issues, including diabetic ketoacidosis, kidney disease, heart disease, and vision impairment.

Other prevalent immune systems diseases like multiple sclerosis, psoriasis, Sjögren’s syndrome, Graves’ disease, and celiac disease may also affect you.

Contact the Allergy & Asthma Clinic of Maryland today to schedule an appointment with an immunology specialist.