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Your body's immune system protects you from disease and infection but if you have an autoimmune disease your immune system attacks healthy cells in your body by mistake. Autoimmune diseases can affect many parts of the body no one is sure what causes autoimmune diseases they do tend to run in families of women particularly African.

American Hispanic American and Native American women have a higher risk for some autoimmune diseases there are more than 80types of autoimmune diseases and some have similar symptoms which makes it hard for your healthcare provider to know if you really have one of these diseases and if so which one getting a diagnosis can be frustrating and stressful often the first symptoms are fatigue muscle aches and a low fever the classic sign of an autoimmune disease is inflammation which can cause redness, heat, pain, and swelling.

The diseases may also have flare-ups when they get worse and remissions when symptoms get better or disappear treatment depends on the disease but in most cases, one important goal is to reduce inflammation. Sometimes doctors prescribe corticosteroids or other drugs that reduce your immune response.

Types of autoimmune diseases.

There are most common 4types of autoimmune diseases: Autoimmune diseases are disorders of the immune system is in charge of protecting the body from infection through a system of special cells and organs including white blood cells and antibodies autoimmune diseases are harmful because they confuse this system the body becomes unable to distinguish between invaders and its own natural chemicals causing the immune system to attack itself this leads to diseases running rampant throughout the body and the immune system destroying the tissues it is intended to protect so that disease is the name of a disease that causes problems digesting certain types of food particularly gluten a protein found in many different foods.

Celiac disease causes the body to attack gluten and cause harm to the small intestine where the protein would normally be digested symptoms of this disease occur most commonly after eating something that contains gluten and includes bloating, weight loss, fatigue, and vomiting. Lupus causes the body to attack itself instead of bacteria and viruses leading to inflammation and swelling throughout the body and causing nearly chronic pain symptoms of lupus include chronic fatigue, skin rashes, and joint pain as well as other issues involving the internal organs, more severe symptoms include enlarged lymph nodes, poor circulation, hair loss and sensitivity to sunlight.

Rheumatoid arthritis or RA is swelling of the joints it causes pain and warmth in the joints and although the cause is not fully known it is thought to be an autoimmune disorder with symptoms including joint pain and swelling, fatigue, and stiffness. Rheumatoid arthritis is typically symmetrical occurring joints on both sides of the body at once. Psoriasis is a skin disorder caused by an overreaction of the immune system; this reaction causes inflammation and makes the skin flake off leading to scaly patches thought to be passed down genetically. Symptoms of psoriasis include skin rashes, joint pain, peeling skin and even pitting of the nails. Psoriasis has periods where it flares and periods of remission, some more severe cases of psoriasis may cover large portions of the body at once unlike many others in rashes however psoriasis is not contagious contact with an infected individual will not spread the disease. Any auto-immune disease is serious and should be diagnosed and treated by a specialist on early bases.  

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