All over the world, people are suffering more because their immune systems are unable to distinguish between healthy cells and invading microorganisms. They are now being attacked by disease defenses which were designed to defend the body from infection.
Research efforts across the globe are intensifying to combat this trend. A prime example is the London Francis Crick Institute initiative where James Lee and Carola Vinesa who are world-renowned experts in this area, have formed separate research groups that will help to determine the exact reasons behind autoimmune diseases.
Lee told the Observer that autoimmune illnesses began to rise around 40 years ago, in western nations. However, we are now witnessing cases appear in countries that had never seen such diseases before.
The Middle East and East Asia are experiencing the greatest increase in cases of inflammatory bowel disorders. The patients had never encountered the condition before.
Type 1 diabetes is one of the autoimmune diseases. Other ailments include rheumatoid, inflammation of the bowel, and multiple sclerosis. In each of these cases, the immune system gets its wires crossed, and it turns on healthy tissue instead of infectious agents.
In the UK alone, at least 4 million people have developed the condition, with some people suffering more than one. According to estimates from international sources that the number of patients suffering from autoimmune disorders is increasing by 3% to nine percent per year. Many scientists believe that environmental factors play a the major part in this increase.
Lee who was located in Cambridge University, stated that genetics has not changed over recent decades. Therefore, something is changing in the outside world in a way that is increasing our predisposition to autoimmune disease.
This notion was endorsed by Vinuesa, who was previously an instructor at the Australian National University. She discussed the shifts in the diets of people as more countries adopted west-style diets and people ate more fast-food items.
Vinuesa said that fast food meals are deficient in certain essential ingredients like fiber. Evidence suggests that this change could affect a person's microbiome which is the accumulation of microorganisms living in our gut. Microorganisms play a vital role in regulating many bodily functions.
The changes in our microbiomes then create autoimmune conditions, of which there are over 100 different types.
Both researchers emphasized that individual risk factors were involved in contracting such illnesses, ailments that also include celiac disease as with lupus, which causes swelling and inflammation, and may cause damage to different organs, such as the heart.
"If you don't have a particular genetic susceptibility it is unlikely that you will develop an auto-immune disease, no matter the amount of Big Macs you eat," said Vinuesa. "There's no thing we can do to stop the worldwide growth of fast food franchises. Therefore, we are trying to understand the fundamental genetic Check out factors that lead to the autoimmune diseases that make certain people susceptible but others not. We are trying to address the issue at the level of."
The development of modern technologies allows us to detect tiny variations in DNA across large populations of people. This makes it possible to determine common genetic patterns in people with an autoimmune disorder.
In the past we did not have the technology to do that, but now we have this incredible power to sequence DNA on a large scale and that has changed everything, said Lee. When I started doing research, we had only fifty DNA variants that were involved in triggering inflammation in the bowel. Today, we have over 250.
This research is at the core of Lee and Vinuesa's research efforts, which aim to find out how these various genetic pathways function and to unravel the many different types of diseases that doctors are currently investigating. Vinuesa has Click here stated that there are many types of autoimmune diseases including Lupus. That can make it difficult to identify the appropriate treatment.
There are numerous treatments being developed however, we aren't sure which patients to give them. We don't know what type of disease the patient suffers from. This is a crucial goal in research into autoimmune diseases. It is crucial to know how to classify and categorize patients in order to give them the appropriate treatment.
Lee stated that due to the rise in auto-immune diseases around the world, new treatments and drugs are now needed more urgently than ever before. There are currently no cures to autoimmune diseases that typically develop at a young age - as they attempt to finish their education, get their first job, and start families, he added.
That means growing numbers of patients will have to have regular injections for the rest of their lives. It can be a stressful time for patients, and can put an huge strain on the healthcare system. It is imperative to find innovative treatment options that are more efficient and effective.
Rheumatoid is an auto-immune condition. It is a condition where the immune system targets healthy tissue. It's not yet known what causes it.
Your immune system normally makes antibodies that fight viruses and bacteria, assisting to fight infections.
If you have Rheumatoid Arthritis Your immune system mistakenly sends antibodies into your joints the lining of your joints, and they attack the surrounding tissues.
The thin, cell-like layer that covers your joints (synovium) to get inflamed and sore, which releases chemicals that cause harm nearby.
bones
Cartilage – The connective tissue that is stretchy and connects bones
Tendons - The tissue that connects muscle to bone
ligaments - the tissues that connects cartilage and bone
If rheumatoid arthritis is not treated, the chemicals slowly make the joint change form and align. It can eventually cause the total destruction of the joint.
There have been many theories on the reason why the immune system targets joints. For example, an infection might be a trigger. But none of these theories has been proven.
Possible risk factors
Rheumatoid-related arthritis may be caused by a variety of factors, including:
Your genes - Some evidence suggests that rheumatoid arthritis can run in families. It is not likely that you'll inherit the disease. Genetics are believed to only play a minor part in the.
Hormones – Rheumatoid arthritis is more common for women than men. Though this could be due to the effects hormone oestrogen has on the body, it hasn't been confirmed.
Smoking cigarettes - Smoking increases the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis.