Many people across the globe suffer because their immune systems are unable to discern between healthy cells and invader micro-organisms. They are now being attacked by defenses against disease that were previously used to protect them.
International research efforts are underway to stop this trend, including an initiative at London's Francis Crick Institute, where two experts from around the world, James Lee and Carola Vinuesa, have created separate research groups that will help pinpoint the precise nature of the autoimmune disorder in the way that these diseases are recognized as such.
Lee told the Observer the Observer that autoimmune diseases increased in the west around 40 years back. However, some of these cases are now occurring in countries that have never experienced such diseases.
The Middle East, East Asia and Africa have seen the highest increase in the number of cases of inflammatory bowel disorders over the last few years. They'd never had the disease before.
Type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis inflammatory bowel disease and rheumatoidarthitis are all autoimmune illnesses. In each case the immune system becomes confused and shifts to healthy tissues over infective agents.
The UK is home to at least 4,000,000 individuals suffering from these ailments. There are numerous others. According to estimates from international sources that the number of people suffering from autoimmune diseases is on the rise by between 3% - nine percent per year. Researchers believe that environmental triggers play a major role in this rise.
Lee, who was previously located at Cambridge University, stated that genetics hasn't changed much in recent years. There must be something taking place outside that is increasing our risk of developing autoimmune diseases.
This idea was backed by Vinuesa, who was previously an instructor at the Australian National University. She cited changes in the diet happening as more countries adopted western-style diets and people bought more fast food.
Vinuesa explained that some essential elements in fast food diets are not present such as fibre. There is evidence that altering a person’s microbiome (the assortment of microorganisms that we have in our digestive tract) could lead to the loss of certain bodily functions.
Changes in our microbiomes trigger autoimmune disease, of which more than 100 cases have been reported.
Both researchers emphasized that individual vulnerability was a factor in the development of diseases like these, which also include celiac disease as well with lupus, which causes swelling and inflammation, and may cause damage to various organs, including the heart.
Vinuesa said, "If there is no genetic susceptibility, then an immune-mediated disease is not likely to be a problem, regardless of the amount of Big Macs we eat." "There isn't anything we can do to stop the global spread of fast-food franchises. Instead, we are trying discover the genetic factors that cause the autoimmune diseases and why some individuals are more susceptible to it. "We want to deal with the problem at this point."
Scientists are now able to detect tiny differences in the DNA of a large number of people. This is made possible by the use of the development of new methods. It is now possible to discern common genetic patterns that are common to people suffering from an autoimmune condition.
Up until recently 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 doing research, we knew about half a dozen DNA variations which were responsible for triggering inflammation in the bowel. Over 250 of them are recognized.
This is the heart of Lee's and Vinuesa’s work. They aim to discover how different genetic pathways function and discover the diverse types of diseases scientists are currently researching. Vinuesa said there could be multiple versions of certain autoimmune disorders, like Lupus. This is a problem when you are trying to determine the most effective treatment.
There are many new potential treatments that may be beneficial but we don't have the appropriate patients. In fact we don't have the necessary information to know if they have the same disease. That is the goal of research into autoimmune diseases. In order to provide the appropriate treatment, we need to learn how to group patients.
Lee stated that due to the increase in autoimmune Read More diseases across the globe, new treatments and drugs are now needed more urgently than ever before. Presently, rheumatoid arthritis icd 10 there are no cures to autoimmune diseases that typically develop in young people - while they are trying to complete their studies, secure their first job and have families, he added.
That means more people will have to undergo surgery and/or have regular injections throughout their life. This can be a nightmare for patients as well as a significant burden on health care services. It is therefore essential to come up with effective and novel methods of treatment.
Rheumatoid arthritis is an immuno-mediated disease. However, we aren't sure what triggers it.
Your immune system usually produces antibodies that attack bacteria and viruses to combat infection.
Your immune system may mistakenly send antibodies to your joints if you have Rheumatoid. The antibodies attack surrounding tissue.
The thin layer (synovium), which covers your joints, could get inflamed and irritated, releasing chemicals to cause damage.
bones
Cartilage is the connective tissue between bones that is made up of cartilage.
Tendons - The tissue that connects muscle to bone
ligaments - the tissues that connects cartilage and bone
If rheumatoid arthritis does not get treated, these chemicals slowly make the joint lose its shape and alignment. The final result may be irreparable.
There are many theories about why the immune system attacks joints have been proposed for example, an infection as a trigger, but none of them has been confirmed.
Possible risk factors
There are many things which can increase your risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis including:
Your genes - There's some evidence suggesting that rheumatoid arthritis can be passed through families. However, the probability of it passing on to children is low because genes play only an important part in the disease.
Hormones Rheumatoid Arthritis is much more common in women than in men. It could be due to the effects of the hormone Oestrogen. But this connection is not yet established.
smoking cigarettes - some research suggests that those who smoke have an increased risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis.