Autoimmune Diseases

Autoimmune diseases comprise over 50 distinct diseases that afflict more than 15 million individuals in the U.S. alone.  These are crippling, even fatal, diseases characterized by inappropriate immune system responses.  Autoimmune diseases are chronic and require lifelong treatment. There are no known cures.  Some of the most common autoimmune diseases include type 1 diabetes, lupus, multiple sclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease, psoriasis, and rheumatoid arthritis.  In each of these autoimmune diseases, autoreactive lymphocytes attack or mediate the attack on the body’s healthy tissues and organs.  The observed disease depends upon which healthy tissue or organ is attacked, damaged, and, in some cases, destroyed.  For example, type 1 diabetes occurs when the islet cells of the pancreas are the target of the attack, rheumatoid arthritis results from an attack on synovial tissue in joints, and scleroderma is believed to result from an inappropriate attack on or stimulation of connective tissue cells called fibroblasts.