Monday, June 24, 2013

Understanding Autoimmune Disease

By Armand Zeiders


There are many different types of autoimmune diseases and disorders, ranging from rheumatoid arthritis to psoriasis to multiple sclerosis. Many of these autoimmune diseases are quite debilitating for the person afflicted with the disease and while there typically are no cures for these diseases, many of the symptoms can be treated to help make life easier and more comfortable for the patient.

The body's immune system begins attacking tissues, in all types of autoimmune diseases, or substances that are normally present in the body. Attacking foreign substances that might harm a body is typically the purpose of the immune system, but when you have an autoimmune disorder your body unfortunately begins a self attack rather than targeting foreign invaders, such as bacteria or a virus.

Within a certain criteria, a body must fit in order for a disease to be considered an autoimmune disorder. The criteria that usually used are Witebsky's Postulates which is named after the immunologist who came up with these criteria. The evidence must be found by researchers in order to qualify it as an autoimmune disease, which the autoimmune reaction exists in the form of a cell-mediated immune reaction, known as an autoantibody. Similarly observed were some reactions secondly using animal in medical experiments. Lastly, what is needed to be clarified is the antigen that causes this immune response.

In the list of autoimmune disease, there are many diseases that are included. Notable ones are Celiac disease, psoriasis, Guillain-Barre syndrome and Lupus, which are just a few of the accepted types of autoimmune diseases. There are some disorders listed as suspected types of autoimmune disorders including endometriosis, multiple sclerosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Kawasaki's disease and others. These disorders typically are treated as autoimmune disorder, but have not been placed under the "accepted" category.

There are many different treatment options for those with autoimmune diseases, and these treatments range from using anti-inflammatory drugs to using immunosuppressive medicines. Sometimes a patient will experience a remission of their disease while using immunosuppressive drugs and sometimes symptoms will simply become less severe.

One approach to autoimmune treatment is with the use of monoclonal antibody therapy. These monoclonal antibodies are being created in a laboratory and they are called "mono" clonal, because each one is identical to the other. Just inside a cell, these monoclonal antibodies attach to a specific kind of protein or a certain type of cell in order to stimulate a response from the immune system. There are several approved Monoclonal antibody therapies and they treat Lupus, psoriasis and some types of asthma and they also include treating Crohn's disease.




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