Experiencing At Least 4 of These Symptoms? You May Have This Autoimmune Disease

Autoimmune diseases are some of the most misdiagnosed and misunderstood diseases out there. An autoimmune disease occurs when the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks healthy cells and tissues as if they were foreign invaders. This attack can lead to inflammation and damage to various organs and tissues.

Autoimmune disease symptoms vary greatly depending on which part of the body is affected, but some common symptoms include fatigue, joint pain and swelling, skin problems, and recurring fevers. Other possible symptoms include weight changes, digestive issues, swollen glands, and a general feeling of being unwell.

How Autoimmune Diseases Attack Your Body

Your Immune System Function:
The immune system’s primary role is to protect the body from harmful substances like bacteria, viruses, and other foreign invaders. It does this by identifying and eliminating these invaders.

The Autoimmune Response:
In autoimmune diseases, the immune system malfunctions and begins attacking the body’s own cells and tissues.

Autoantibodies:
The immune system produces antibodies (proteins that target and destroy invaders) that are specifically directed at the body’s own cells. These are called autoantibodies.

Consequences of autoantibodies:
These autoantibodies and the resulting immune response can lead to inflammation, tissue damage, and various symptoms depending on the affected organs or tissues.

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Examples:
Many autoimmune diseases exist, including rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, lupus, and Crohn’s disease.

What’s Causing It:
The exact causes of autoimmune diseases are not fully understood, but genetic factors, environmental triggers, and other unknown factors are thought to play a role.

Symptoms:
Symptoms can vary widely depending on the specific disease and the affected areas of the body. Common symptoms include fatigue, pain, swelling, and rashes.

Diagnosis and Treatment:
Diagnosing autoimmune diseases can be challenging as symptoms can be nonspecific and may come and go. Treatment typically focuses on managing the symptoms and reducing the immune system’s activity to minimize damage.

Are You Experiencing Any 4 of These Symptoms?

While spotting any abnormal symptoms you are experiencing can help you get a diagnosis, sometimes getting to the root of the problem may take more. For instance, if you have the autoimmune disease, lupus, you may have to meet a certain criteria to be officially diagnosed, according to the Lupus Research Alliance.

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Lupus, particularly systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), disproportionately affects African Americans, being 3-4 times more likely than White Americans. African Americans with lupus also experience more rapid progression of the disease and worse outcomes, including higher rates of lupus nephritis and cardiovascular disease, and a greater risk of progressing to kidney failure.

No single lab test can tell if you have lupus. Many symptoms of lupus are like those of other diseases and can come and go. Instead, your primary care provider or rheumatologist will use your medical history, a physical exam and several laboratory tests to determine if you have lupus.

You will need to have at least four of the following symptoms before lupus can be diagnosed:

1. Malar rash – butterfly-shaped rash across cheeks and nose
2. Discoid (skin) rash – raised red patches
3. Photosensitivity – unusually strong reaction to sunlight. Sun exposure can cause a skin rash or trigger a flare.
4. Mouth or nose ulcers – usually painless
5. Nonerosive Arthritis – inflammation in 2 or more joints with tenderness, swelling or effusion (discharge). Nonerosive means that
   
   bones around joints do not get destroyed.
6. Cardio-pulmonary involvement – inflammation of the lining around the heart (pericarditis) and/or lungs (pleuritis)
7. Neurologic disorder – seizures and/or psychosis
8. Renal (kidney) disorder – increased protein in the urine, or clumps of red blood or kidney cells in the urine called cellular casts
9. Hematologic (blood) disorder – anemia caused by damage to red blood cells, low white blood cell count, or low platelet count
10. Immunologic disorder – antibodies to double-stranded DNA, antibodies to Sm (a chemical element in the body), or antibodies to cardiolipin (a kind of fat in the blood)
11. Antinuclear antibodies (ANA) – positive blood test in the absence of drugs known to induce it

Does a positive ANA test mean you have it?

Not always, which is why the criteria above is a key step in diagnosing lupus. A “positive” ANA blood test means that the immune system is making an antibody (a protein) that reacts with the body’s own cells. This condition, called autoimmunity, may or may not be harmful. A negative ANA test suggests that antinuclear antibodies are not present in the blood, which is less likely to indicate lupus, but doesn’t completely rule it out.

Your doctor should consider the ANA test results along with the patient’s symptoms, medical history, physical exam, and other blood tests to make a complete diagnosis.

You’ve been diagnosed, now what?

Once a diagnosis is made, it’s very important to see a healthcare provider often. He/she can look for changes in symptoms, predict and
prevent flares, spot side effects of medications and change your treatment plan if needed. Regular visits also help monitor major organs (the central nervous system, kidneys, heart, lungs) early for any problems that may arise. Because no two cases are the same, your lupus treatment may differ from the next person with lupus.