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Autoimmune disease

From MEpedia, a crowd-sourced encyclopedia of ME and CFS science and history

Autoimmune diseases arise from an abnormal immune response of the body against substances and tissues normally present in the body.

Types of autoimmune diseases[edit | edit source]

Autoimmune diseases can be localized, which means affecting only specific tissues or organs, or systematic, making affecting many tissues or organs.[1]

Localized autoimmune disease[edit | edit source]

Examples include:

Systemic autoimmune diseases[edit | edit source]

Examples include:

Autoimmune hypothesis in ME and CFS[edit | edit source]

Shows fibromyalgia 30-77% overlap, Hashimoto's thyroiditis 17-20%, POTS 11-40% overlap and family history of autoimmune conditions 18-41% overlap.
Autoimmune conditions in people with ME/CFS. Source: Sotzny et al (2018), EUROMENE project.

Many people with ME/CFS also have autoimmune conditions such as Fibromyalgia or Hashimoto's thyroiditis, or have a family history of autoimmune diseases.[2] POTS, or postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, can be initiated or maintained by autoantibodies as well, and POTS is common in people with ME. A number of different immune system abnormalities have been found in some patients with ME/CFS.[2]

Main article: Autoimmune hypothesis

ME/CFS is being investigated to determine if it is caused by Autoimmunity in some patients.

Notable studies[edit | edit source]

See also[edit | edit source]

Learn more[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 British Society for Immunology (March 2016). "Autoimmunity" (PDF). Retrieved July 12, 2019.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Sotzny, Franziska; Blanco, Julià; Capelli, Enrica; Castro-Marrero, Jesús; Steiner, Sophie; Murovska, Modra; Scheibenbogen, Carmen (2018), "Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome – Evidence for an autoimmune disease", Autoimmunity Reviews, 17 (6): 601-609, doi:10.1016/j.autrev.2018.01.009

An unusually rapid heart beat. Can be caused by exercise or illness. A symptom of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS).[1] (Learn more: www.heart.org)

tachycardia An unusually rapid heart beat. Can be caused by exercise or illness. A symptom of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). (Learn more: www.heart.org)

autoantibody An antibody that works against the body's own antigens, a hallmark of autoimmune diseases. Autoantibodies are the opposite of an antibodies.

See postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome.

postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) - A form of orthostatic intolerance where the cardinal symptom is excessive tachycardia due to changing position (e.g. from lying down to sitting up).

myalgic encephalomyelitis (M.E.) - A disease often marked by neurological symptoms, but fatigue is sometimes a symptom as well. Some diagnostic criteria distinguish it from chronic fatigue syndrome, while other diagnostic criteria consider it to be a synonym for chronic fatigue syndrome. A defining characteristic of ME is post-exertional malaise (PEM), or post-exertional neuroimmune exhaustion (PENE), which is a notable exacerbation of symptoms brought on by small exertions. PEM can last for days or weeks. Symptoms can include cognitive impairments, muscle pain (myalgia), trouble remaining upright (orthostatic intolerance), sleep abnormalities, and gastro-intestinal impairments, among others. An estimated 25% of those suffering from ME are housebound or bedbound. The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies ME as a neurological disease.

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