Autoimmune Disease

The defense system that keeps the body from the invasion of various kinds of pathogens is what is known as the immune system. It is designed to identify and eliminate the agents which might harm the body. It is quite amazing to know that this system has the ability to identify millions of different agents which affect the body. However, due to certain reasons, this very system malfunctions, and its recognition power fails. This failure causes the immune system to mistake the body's own cells as invaders and attack them. So what it does is, it starts producing cells and antibodies, and use them against the body's own cells and tissues. This kind of malfunction is known as auto immune deficiency, and this is where the occurrence autoimmune diseases take place, and bouts of symptoms come into notice. More on this subject has been documented below.

Symptoms

The symptoms which indicate the development of autoimmune disease, tend to affect any part of the body. The exact symptoms that an affected individual would exhibit, depends on the tissues or the organs affected by the autoimmune disease. Being abreast of the common symptoms help in initiating an early treatment, ergo, reducing the risk of complications. However, it is also true that, many of such diseases exhibit similar symptoms. And this is the reason why, the diagnosis does not come easy. The common signs and symptoms which serve indicators of the development of an autoimmune medical condition in the body are as follows:

• Brittle hair and nails
• Bulging eyes
• Butterfly rash
• Constipation
• Coordination problems
• Deformation of joints
• Depression
• Disturbed menstrual periods
• Dry hair
• Fatigue
• Thyroid problems such as hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism
• Increased irritability
• Loss of appetite
• Lupus
• Multiple sclerosis
• Muscle aches
• Numbness and tingling in limbs
• Overweight
• Paralysis
• Perspiration
• Rheumatoid arthritis (RA)
• Rough skin
• Sensitivity to high temperatures
• Sensitivity to low temperatures
• Shakiness
• Skin rashes
• Sleep disorders
• Swelling of joints
• Tremors
• Weakness
• Weight loss

It has to be known that different autoimmune disease may give rise to different set of symptoms. And the common ones have been cited in the list above.

List of Autoimmune Disease

As I said, any part of the body may get affected by an autoimmune disease. Common ones include the network of digestive system, blood and blood vessel network, eyes, heart, joints, kidneys, lungs, muscles, glands, and nervous system. So taking all these into account, the table below lists down some common autoimmune disorders or diseases of the body.

Autoimmune Disease	Parts Affected
Autoimmune hepatitis	Digestive System
Crohn's Disease
Primary Biliary Cirrhosis
Celiac Disease
Ulcerative Colitis
Polyarteritis Nodosa	Blood Vessel Network
Pernicious Anemia
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE)
Wegener's Granulomatosis
Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia
Sjogren's Syndrome	Eyes
Type 1 Diabetes (Juvenile diabetes)
Uveitis (Inflammation of the uvea of the eye)
Myocarditis	Heart
Scleroderma
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
Rheumatic Fever
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus	Joints
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Ankylosing Spondylitis
Type 1 Diabetes	Kidney System
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
Glomerulonephritis
Scleroderma	Lungs
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Dermatomyositisa	Muscles
Polymyositis
Myasthenia Gravis
Graves' Disease	Glands
Thyroiditis (Inflammation of the thyroid gland)
Type 1 Diabetes
Multiple Sclerosis	Nervous System
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
Guillain-Barré Syndrome

Having done with the types of autoimmune diseases and their symptoms, I would like to let you know about the factors which contribute to the cause of such conditions, before I draw the conclusion to this article.

Causes of Autoimmune Diseases

Medical science has still not able to deduce theories which could explain the causes of autoimmune diseases. However, there are assumptions that gene and environmental factors, somehow contribute to the causes. Doctors have also identified elements which serve as triggers for the disease. These include sun's exposure, infections, drugs or in some cases, pregnancy.

And as far as the autoimmune disease treatment is considered, many factors drive the decision about the kind of treatment. These may include the type of the condition, symptoms and severity of the disease. The treatment focuses on relieving the symptoms, protecting the affected organs and deal with the mechanism of the disease.