what is autoimmunity
In Autoimmunity the immune system, which is designed to protect all that is the human body, becomes misdirected (confused) and views the body's healthy tissue as threatening. The immune system begins to attack the healthy body tissue causing one or more autoimmune diseases or disorders. The disease an individual develops depends on the tissue the immune system attacks.
Here are a few unsettling facts about Autoimmunity in the U.S..
- Autoimmunity is usually hereditary. Therefore most patients are predisposed to developing autoimmunity and at least one autoimmune disease. Have you ever wondered why other people in your family, both immediate and extended, have similar illnesses?
- The NIH has done epidemiology studies on 24 of the more than 100 autoimmune diseases. These 24 diseases, alone, affect more than 23 million Americans.
- Autoimmune diseases are among the leading causes of death in America’s female children and women up to age 65.
- 75% of America's autoimmune disease patients are female. This is largely due to the physical and hormonal changes females naturally experience.
- Several factors can trigger an autoimmune response in the human body, including physical or emotional trauma, unfavorable environmental conditions, and infection.
- There few to no aggregated autoimmune statistics in the U.S.. In most cases autoimmune diseases are lumped into categories with other chronic illnesses that sound similar, but are very different in onset, management, treatment and prevention.
