A growing number of people across the world are suffering because their immune systems are unable to more distinguish between healthy cells and invader micro-organisms. The immune system is being attacked by the disease defenses which were previously there to guard them.
International research efforts are underway to combat this trend - such as an initiative in London's Francis Crick Institute, where two world experts, James Lee and Carola Vinuesa have established distinct research groups to determine the exact nature of the autoimmune disorder, as these conditions are known.
The incidence of autoimmune disease began to increase about 40 years ago in the west, Lee told the Observer. However, some of these cases are now being seen in countries where they have never had such illnesses before.
The Middle East and East Asia have seen the highest increase in cases of inflammatory bowel disorders. Prior to that, they had never ever heard of the disease.
Autoimmune disorders can range from type 1 diabetes to multiple Sclerosis as well as chronic fatigue syndrome and Rheumatoid Arthritis. In all cases the immune system is activated and turns on healthy tissue.
There are at least 4 million people suffering from autoimmune diseases in the UK and some suffer from multiple. Globally, it's estimated that the incidence of autoimmune diseases is rising at a rate of between 3%-9% per annum. Researchers believe that environmental triggers are key to this rise.
Human genetics hasn't altered over the last few decades, claimed Lee who was based at Cambridge University. Something must be going on outside that's increasing our chances of developing autoimmune diseases.
Vinuesa supported the idea, having previously worked at the Australian National University. She emphasized that the changes in diets were occurring as more countries adopted Western-style diets and more people were buying fast food items.
Foods that are processed and fast-food-based lack important ingredients, such as fibre. Evidence indicates that this change affects the microbiome of a person - the collection of micro-organisms that we have in our digestive tract and that play a key role in regulating different bodily functions, Vinuesa said.
These changes to our microbiomes create autoimmune conditions that are of more than 100 types.
Both scientists stressed that individual susceptibilities were involved in contracting such illnesses, ailments that also comprise celiac diseases as well with lupus, which causes inflammation and swelling and can cause damage to various organs, such as the heart.
Vinuesa said "If you don't have a genetic susceptibility to autoimmune diseases, you won’t necessarily get one, no matter how many Big Macs you eat." There is no way to stop the proliferation of fast-food outlets across the globe. Therefore we're trying to unravel the genetic mechanisms that underpin autoimmune diseases and make some people more susceptible than others. We're trying to solve the issue at that level."
Because of the advancement of technology, researchers are in a position to detect tiny differences between people's DNA. In this way, it is possible to determine common genetic patterns among those suffering from an autoimmune disorder.
In the past we did not have the technology to do this, however, we're in a position to sequence DNA on a huge scale. This has completely changed everything, according to Lee. When I first began my research at the time, we had only a glimpse of half of the DNA variations which were linked to the onset of inflammation in the intestines. We now have more than 250.
This is at the core of the work done by Lee and Vinuesa. They are trying to understand the functions of different genetic pathways and uncover the various kinds of diseases that doctors are currently studying. Vinuesa says that it is now apparent that there exist many types of autoimmune conditions such as Lupus. They could all be caused by various genetic pathways. This could have an adverse influence on your ability find the right treatment.
We have lots of potentially useful new therapies that are being developed all the time However, we don't know the patients they should give these treatments to because we've come to realize that we don't know exactly which type of disease they have. And that is now a key goal for autoimmune research. We must learn to categorize and stratify patients so that we can offer them the best therapy.
Lee said that there are now more autoimmune disorders than ever, and new treatments and drugs are urgently needed. It's impossible to treat autoimmune illnesses. This is especially true when young people are trying to finish their education and get their first job, and have families.
That means growing numbers of people face surgery or will have to have regular injections throughout the course of their lives. This could be extremely difficult for patients, and puts a strain on the health system. This is why we need to come up with innovative, efficient treatment options.
Rheumatoid is an autoimmune condition. It is a condition where the immune system targets healthy tissue. It's still not identified what causes this.
Your immune system usually produces antibodies that attack bacteria and viruses to fight off infection.
Rheumatoid arthritis is a condition where your immune system creates antibodies for your joints. They attack the tissue around the joint.
The tiny Click here layer of cells (synovium) covering your joints to become painful and inflamed, releasing chemicals that harm nearby tissues:
bones
Cartilage is the connective tissue between bones that is composed of cartilage.
Tendons - The muscle tissue that connects bone and muscle
ligaments - the tissues that connects bone and cartilage
Rheumatoid arthritis may be treated but not treated. The chemicals can cause joints to become distorted and out of alignment. It can eventually cause the complete destruction of the joint.
There are many theories about the reason why the immune system attacks the joints. For instance, an infection might be a trigger. However none of these theories has been proven.
Possible risk factors
There are a variety of factors that increase the risk of developing rheumatoid, for example:
You could inherit it from your genes. Although there are some signs that rheumatoid arthritis may be passed down through the family but the odds of Read More developing it are slim because genes only play a very tiny role in the disease.
Hormones Rheumatoid arthritis is more prevalent for women than men. Although this may be due in part to the impact of the hormone oestrogen has on the body, it has not been confirmed.
Smoking cigarettes - There is evidence that those who smoke are more likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis.