Around the world, people are experiencing more pain because their immune systems cannot discern between healthy cells and invading microorganisms. Instead of protecting them against disease their organs and tissues are attacked by these same defenses.
International research is being undertaken to counter this trend. This includes a project at London's Francis Crick Institute where two world experts, James Lee, and Carola Vinuesa have established separate research groups to identify the causes behind autoimmune disorders.
Lee disclosed to the Observer how the number of autoimmune cases has increased over the last 40 years, particularly in Western countries. We are seeing a few cases in countries that have never experienced such illnesses.
For example, the Middle East and East Asia are the regions with the highest percentage of cases of inflammatory bowel disease. They had never seen the disease prior to.
Type 1 diabetes is one of the autoimmune diseases. Other ailments include rheumatoid disease, multiple sclerosis and inflammatory bowel. In each case the immune system is activated and its wires crossed, and it turns towards healthy tissue, not the infectious agents.
In the UK alone, more than 4 million people are suffering from these conditions, with a few sufferers suffering from more than one. Internationally, it is now estimated that cases of autoimmune illnesses are increasing between 3% and 9% a year. Many scientists believe that environmental factors play a an important role in this rise.
Lee who was located in Cambridge University, stated that genetics has not changed over recent decades. Therefore, something is changing around the world in a way that is leading to an increase in our risk of developing an autoimmune disorder.
Vinuesa who was situated at the Australian National University supported the notion. She discussed the shifts in the diets of people when more countries adopted western-style diets and people were eating more fast foods.
Vinuesa states that many fast-food meals lack vital ingredients, such as fiber. This could alter the microbiome of a person, that is the accumulation of of micro-organisms that are found in our bodies, and that play a crucial function in controlling various bodily functions.
Microbiomes are the microbiome that is altered. This leads to autoimmune conditions. There are more than 100 kinds.
The two scientists also stressed that every person is at risk of developing these illnesses including celiac Lupus, and other ailments like celiac that cause swelling and inflammation and can cause significant damage to various organs.
Vinuesa clarified that autoimmune diseases aren't something you can be diagnosed with Read More if you don't have a specific genetic susceptibility. "There isn't much that we can do to halt the worldwide spread of fast-food franchises. Instead, we're trying to understand the genetic mechanisms behind autoimmune disease and why certain people are at risk. This is the way we intend to solve the problem."
This task is possible thanks to the development of techniques that allow researchers to identify tiny differences in DNA across a large number of people. This allows them to recognize common genetic patterns among those suffering from an autoimmune disorder.
In the past, we just didn't have the technology to do this, however, we're in a position to sequence DNA on a huge scale, and it has transformed everything, according to Lee. We knew only about half dozen variations of DNA that could cause inflammatory bowel diseases when I began my research. Now, we know about 250.
This is the heart of the Click here work done by Lee and Vinuesa. They aim to discover how different genetic pathways function and to discover the different kinds of diseases that researchers are currently studying. If you take a look at a variety of auto-immune diseases like the lupus disease - it's been discovered recently that there are a variety of different forms of them, that may be caused by different genetic pathways, Vinuesa explained. If you're trying to determine the most effective treatment it can become an issue.
There are many potential innovative therapies that are being developed, but we don't know what patients to treat them for. We don't even know which version of the disease the patient suffers from. That is the goal of autoimmune research. It is crucial to know how to stratify and group patients to provide them the best treatment.
Lee stated that the rising incidence of autoimmune diseases around the world means new treatments and medications are needed now more than ever before. He said that there is at present no treatment for autoimmune diseases. They typically develop in young people trying to complete their studies, get a job, and start families.
This means that more people are likely to undergo surgery or regular injections throughout their lives. This could be extremely difficult for patients, and puts stress on health care systems. That's why we need to come up with innovative, efficient solutions.
Rheumatoid arthritis is an auto-immune disease, meaning it's due to the immune system attacking healthy tissue in the body. We don't know what triggers it.
Your immune system normally produces antibodies that attack bacteria and viruses to combat infection.
Your immune system might incorrectly release antibodies to joints when you have rheumatoid. These antibodies attack the surrounding tissue.
The thin layer of cells (synovium), that covers your joints, is prone to inflammation and painful.
bones
Cartilage – The connective tissue stretchy that connects bones
Tendons are the connective tissue between bone and muscle.
Ligaments - This is the tissue which connects cartilage and bones.
These chemicals can lead to rheumatoid joints damage if the condition isn't addressed. The end result can be irreparable.
There are many theories as to how the immune system targets joints. For instance, an infection might be a trigger. But none of these theories is proven.
Possible risk factors
There are a variety of factors that increase the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis for example:
You can inherit it from your genes. While there are signs that rheumatoid arthritis may be passed down through the family but the odds of developing it are very low since genes play a minor role in the condition.
Hormones: Rheumatoid arthritis is more common than ever for women, possibly due to the hormone effects of oestrogen. However, this link is not proven.
Smoking is a risk cause for rheumatoid artifiid. A few studies support this.