autoimmune disease

autoimmune disease  (ôt--myn)

A disease in which impaired function and the destruction of tissue are caused by an immune reaction in which abnormal antibodies are produced and attack the body's own cells and tissues. Autoimmune diseases include a wide variety of disorders, including many disorders of connective tissue, such as systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis.

A Closer Look A wide variety of disorders are classified as autoimmune diseases, ranging from systemic lupus erythematosus to type I diabetes, and many other disorders are suspected of having an autoimmune component. Autoimmune diseases can thus affect a wide variety of bodily tissues and processes, such as the skin, liver, kidneys, or other organs, or the chemical reactions essential to metabolism. Each disease has a characteristic set of autoantibodies (antibodies that attack normal cells or structures in the body itself). In some of these diseases, the autoantibodies that are produced actually cause the tissue and organ damage. In other cases, the antibodies are considered to be characteristic markers of the disease but do not cause disease themselves. It is thought that the autoantibodies are generated by an immunologic reaction with bodily proteins, but the reasons that a specific set of bodily proteins should provoke an immune response that results in disease remain obscure. The genetic makeup of the individual, environmental influences, and infectious disease organisms may all contribute to a person's susceptibility to autoimmune disease. For reasons that are not clear, the prevalence of many autoimmune diseases is much higher in women than in men. Recently there have been dramatic improvements in the diagnosis and treatment of autoimmune disorders. New tests for diagnostically important autoantibodies have been discovered. Corticosteroids are used to reduce inflammation, and anticancer drugs that kill rapidly dividing cells are used to deplete activated cells in the immune system. The most promising new drugs consist of genetically engineered monoclonal antibodies that block just one part of the immune system. By selectively shutting down the part of the immune system involved in the autoimmune response, the drugs allow some people to see dramatic improvement in their symptoms with minimal side effects.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

autoimmune disease - any of a large group of diseases characterized by abnormal functioning of the immune system that causes your immune system to produce antibodies against your own tissues autoimmune disorder disease - an impairment of health or a condition of abnormal functioning myasthenia, myasthenia gravis - a chronic progressive disease characterized by chronic fatigue and muscular weakness (especially in the face and neck); caused by a deficiency of acetylcholine at the neuromuscular junctions disseminated multiple sclerosis, disseminated sclerosis, MS, multiple sclerosis - a chronic progressive nervous disorder involving loss of myelin sheath around certain nerve fibers autoimmune diabetes, growth-onset diabetes, IDDM, insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, juvenile diabetes, juvenile-onset diabetes, ketoacidosis-prone diabetes, ketosis-prone diabetes, type I diabetes - severe diabetes mellitus with an early onset; characterized by polyuria and excessive thirst and increased appetite and weight loss and episodic ketoacidosis; diet and insulin injections are required to control the disease exophthalmic goiter, Graves' disease - exophthalmos occurring in association with goiter; hyperthyroidism with protrusion of the eyeballs atrophic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, rheumatism - a chronic autoimmune disease with inflammation of the joints and marked deformities; something (possibly a virus) triggers an attack on the synovium by the immune system, which releases cytokines that stimulate an inflammatory reaction that can lead to the destruction of all components of the joint ankylosing spondylitis, Marie-Strumpell disease, rheumatoid spondylitis - a chronic form of spondylitis primarily in males and marked by impaired mobility of the spine; sometimes leads to ankylosis discoid lupus erythematosus, DLE - a chronic skin disease occurring primarily in women between the ages of 20 and 40; characterized by an eruption of red lesions over the cheeks and bridge of the nose Hashimoto's disease - autoimmune disorder of the thyroid gland; most common in middle-aged women LE, lupus erythematosus - a chronic inflammatory collagen disease affecting connective tissue (skin or joints) pemphigus - a skin disease characterized by large thin-walled blisters (bullae) arising from normal skin or mucous membrane autoimmunity - production of antibodies against the tissues of your own body; produces autoimmune disease or hypersensitivity reactions dermatosclerosis, scleroderma - an autoimmune disease that affects the blood vessels and connective tissue; fibrous connective tissue is deposited in the skin idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, purpura hemorrhagica, thrombocytopenic purpura, Werlhof's disease - purpura associated with a reduction in circulating blood platelets which can result from a variety of factors