Autoimmune disorders are disorders in which the immune system attacks healthy cells and tissues. In a healthy, normally functioning body, the immune system protects the body against foreign invaders (antigens), such as viruses and bacteria, by targeting and destroying them. The immune system, in such cases, can recognize that the antigens are not part of the body’s makeup and works to get rid of them.
In a body with an autoimmune disorder, however, the immune system makes the mistake of misidentifying healthy tissues or organ cells as invaders. As a result, it continually attacks healthy body parts, causing a chain reaction of health issues.
Researchers and health professionals have identified more than 100 autoimmune diseases. These diseases can affect just about any part of the body, including the liver, skin, pancreas, joints, eyes and lungs.
What Causes Autoimmune Disorders?
Despite having studied autoimmune disorders for decades, researchers are still unsure of what causes them. However, they do know that they are not contagious, meaning you cannot catch them from other people. They also know that many autoimmune diseases tend to run in families, and that environmental and chemical factors can trigger their development in people with predispositions for them.
Risk Factors for Autoimmune Disorders
To date, researchers are unsure of what causes autoimmune disorders. They do, however, have theories. One prevalent theory is that certain drugs or microorganisms (such as bacteria or viruses) trigger changes that confuse the immune system. Though this reaction can happen in anyone, researchers believe that some people are more prone to autoimmune disorders than others. Those people may live with one or more of the following risk factors:
- Being a Women: Of the nearly 4% of the global population that lives with an autoimmune disorder, approximately 80% are women. Researchers are unsure of why autoimmunity occurs more frequently in women than in men, but they speculate it may have something to do with the high and often fluctuating levels of hormones in women’s bodies, particularly during childbearing years.
- Genetic Risk: Extensive bodies of research show that genetics do play a role in autoimmune disease, but the researchers behind these studies are not fully sure of how. That said, if you have one or more persons in your family who have multiple sclerosis (MS) or lupus, for example, your risk of getting either autoimmune disorder increases. The more family members with a disorder, the higher your risk. However, it is important to note that genetics alone is not enough to cause an autoimmune disease.
- Poor Response to Stress: Some researchers suggest that autoimmune disorders can be triggered by a poor stress response. For instance, if stress becomes too much for the body’s ability to handle it, the immune system may turn on itself.
- Bodily Injury: Yet another theory is that injury or damage to certain parts of the body can trigger an adverse immune response. For instance, many scientists believe that injury plays a role in psoriatic arthritis, an autoimmune disorder that affects the joints. Actual research has found that in parts of the body that are regularly subject to high levels of stress, autoimmune diseases develop. This may be because repeated stress can expose tissues to red blood cells, exposure that typically should not happen. When exposure occurs, the red blood cells will try to heal the wound but, instead, an abnormal immune response occurs that triggers inflammation.
- Infection and Disease: One promising theory as to why autoimmune diseases happen is because, when faced with a virus or infection, the immune system goes into hyperdrive to attack it. Though it is normal for the immune system to work to fight off a foreign invader, when healthy cells and tissues become involved, an autoimmune disease can develop. Many scientists believe this is what happens with rheumatoid arthritis, and strep throat has frequently been linked with psoriasis, a condition that causes patches of thick, scaly skin. Some findings also suggest that autoimmune diseases develop when the body works to fight off cancer cells.
It is important to note that while research supports many of these theories, there is not enough evidence to determine a direct cause or say for sure that one risk factor will eventually lead to an autoimmune disorder.
