Autoimmune Diseases: Hidden Battles Within

• Written by Nidhi Goyal

  Reviewed by Akhil Pillai

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The highest cause of chronic illness in India is autoimmune disease, making it an epidemic. Autoimmune disease is the top cause of morbidity among all age groups. They are a major contributor to long-term health complications, reduced quality of life, and growing healthcare burdens.

Autoimmune diseases occur when the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks its cells, tissues, or organs. With over 80 known types, including type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, these conditions are complex. often difficult to detect early, and vary widely in symptoms. This blog aims to demystify autoimmune diseases and guide you through their symptoms, causes, diagnosis, and management.

What is an Autoimmune Disease?

Your immune system acts as your body’s security system. It detects intruders such as bacteria and viruses and triggers alarms in emergencies. In autoimmune disease, this security system malfunctions. It becomes confused, mistakenly identifying healthy cells as threats. Autoimmune conditions can affect nearly every body part, from joints and skin to internal organs and glands. It starts attacking your healthy tissues and can no longer distinguish between friend and foe.

Instead of protecting the body, the immune system turns against its own organs, such as the skin, joints, and thyroid, causing inflammation, pain, and long-term damage. Your body’s defence mechanisms mistakenly attack your healthy cells, effectively turning your body into its own worst enemy. More than 100 autoimmune diseases have affected millions worldwide.

Below you’ll find a list of autoimmune diseases and symptoms.

Types of Autoimmune Diseases

The different types of autoimmune diseases are categorised based on the organ or body part they affect. The following outlines various types of immune diseases that lead to the most common autoimmune disorders.

• Endocrine System: Autoimmune diseases target the body’s endocrine glands, leading to tissue destruction and metabolic derangements.
• Skin and Blood Vessels: These conditions cause skin rashes, damage to blood vessels, and inflammation, affecting various body parts.
• Digestive System: It causes damage and inflammation in the digestive tract, with symptoms such as diarrhoea, fatigue, and weight loss.
• Joint & Muscles: Autoimmune diseases affecting joints, leading to swelling, pain, redness, and stiffness. Additionally, they can damage connective tissue, affecting joints, ligaments, and tendons.

Endocrine System

• Type 1 Diabetes: This chronic autoimmune disease prevents the pancreas from producing insulin.
• Addison’s Disease: The adrenal glands don’t produce enough cortisol and aldosterone hormones.
• Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis: This condition affects the thyroid gland, causing lower levels of thyroid hormones, which can cause constipation, weight gain, and fatigue.
• Graves’ Disease: Characterised by excessive thyroid hormone production, this disease can cause problems with the heart and bones.

Skin and Blood Vessels

• Psoriasis: An autoimmune skin condition that leads to skin inflammation, causing discomfort and itchiness.
• Sjögren’s Syndrome: Occurs when the immune system damages the glands responsible for producing and controlling body moisture.
• Rheumatoid Vasculitis: This is an inflammation of blood vessels that is seen in individuals with long-term RA (rheumatoid arthritis) for 10+ years. It mainly causes skin issues like rashes, sores, and discolouration, often appearing around the fingers, hands, feet, and toes.
• Vitiligo: In this condition, the skin loses its colour or pigmentation, resulting in smooth, light, or white areas on the skin, called macules or patches.

Digestive System

Celiac Disease/ Celiac Sprue: It causes digestive problems when people consume gluten. It causes the immune system to attack gluten in the small intestine, which affects its functioning.

• Ulcerative Colitis: This involves inflammation in the colon. In Ulcerative Colitis, there are periods of symptom flare-ups and remission without symptoms.
• Autoimmune Gastritis: When the soft lining inside your stomach becomes swollen or irritated, it causes pain or discomfort.
• Crohn’s Disease is a type of IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease) that causes swelling and irritation in the digestive tract. Symptoms include abdominal pain, weight loss, diarrhoea, and rectal bleeding.

Joint & Muscles

• Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA): Our immune system, which normally defends us against harmful bacteria and viruses, sometimes identifies the joint tissues as foreign or dangerous. This misidentification triggers an inflammatory immune response. Our immune system activates and sends T and B cells to the joints, causing arthritis.
• Lupus: This autoimmune disease damages organs and tissues throughout your body. It affects joints, blood, skin, and organs like the kidneys, lungs and heart.
• Myositis: This condition attacks your muscles, causing chronic inflammation, making muscles feel increasingly weak.

Common Symptoms of Autoimmune Diseases

When the body’s natural defence system can’t tell the difference between foreign and its own cells. The symptoms of autoimmune diseases may vary according to the severity of autoimmune disease.

• Muscle aches
• Swelling
• Fatigue
• Dizziness or lightheadedness
• Low-grade fever
• Trouble concentrating
• Numbness and tingling in your hands and feet
• Hair loss
• Skin rash

>> Also Read: What is Non-autoimmune Disease?

Most Common Autoimmune Disorders

While there are many immune-related conditions, the most common autoimmune disorders include:

• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Psoriasis
• Type 1 diabetes
• Lupus
• Hashimoto’s thyroiditis
• Celiac disease

Full Autoimmune Disease List

Here’s a concise list of all autoimmune diseases and the immune disease list you may find useful:

1. Addison’s disease
2. Alopecia areata
3. Autoimmune hepatitis
4. Celiac disease
5. Crohn’s disease
6. Dermatomyositis
7. Graves’ disease
8. Guillain-Barré syndrome
9. Hashimoto’s thyroiditis
10. Juvenile idiopathic arthritis
11. Lupus (SLE)
12. Multiple sclerosis
13. Myasthenia gravis
14. Pernicious anemia
15. Psoriasis
16. Psoriatic arthritis
17. Raynaud’s disease
18. Rheumatoid arthritis
19. Scleroderma
20. Sjögren’s syndrome
21. Systemic sclerosis
22. Type 1 diabetes
23. Ulcerative colitis
24. Vitiligo
25. Wegener’s granulomatosis
26. Autoimmune uveitis
27. Autoimmune myocarditis
28. Autoimmune pancreatitis
29. Behçet's disease
30. Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy
31. Cold agglutinin disease
32. Eosinophilic esophagitis
33. Evans syndrome
34. Goodpasture syndrome
35. IgA nephropathy
36. Immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP)
37. Kawasaki disease
38. Lichen planus
39. Meniere’s disease
40. Mixed connective tissue disease
41. Mooren’s ulcer
42. Neuromyelitis optica
43. Pemphigus vulgaris
44. Polymyalgia rheumatica
45. Polymyositis
46. Primary biliary cholangitis
47. Relapsing polychondritis
48. Sarcoidosis
49. Stiff person syndrome
50. Takayasu’s arteritis

This list of autoimmune conditions is continually evolving as research discovers more about how the immune system functions. Every disease has a high treatment cost. One needs to find the right protection, not only physical but also financial. An autoimmune disease can be unpredictable, complex, and lifelong, and it may lead to other health issues. So, it is wise to plan for the future. Cover your medical expenses for hospitalisations, surgeries, and critical health events with a health insurance plan. Develop a safety net for life’s many health uncertainties with our comprehensive insurance policies.

Wrapping Up!

Understanding autoimmune diseases is essential for early detection, effective treatment, and improved quality of life. If you're experiencing unexplained symptoms, it's crucial to consult a healthcare provider for proper diagnosis and care. From the list of autoimmune diseases and symptoms to the types of immune disease, we hope this guide has helped you understand the scope of these conditions.

Living with an autoimmune disease is knowing what your body will bring every morning, but still choosing the battle every day. Such kind of strength deserves appreciation.

Disclaimer: The above information is for reference purposes only. Kindly consult your general physician for verified medical advice. The health insurance benefits are subject to policy terms and conditions. Refer to your policy documents for more information.