Medical Dictionary
A Medical Dictionary of Medical Terminology
  

peroxidase

Autoimmune Diseases

What are autoimmune diseases?

Your immune system protects you from disease and infection by attacking germs that get into your body, such as viruses and bacteria. Your immune system can tell that the germs aren't part of you, so it destroys them. If you have an autoimmune disease, your immune system attacks the healthy cells of your organs and tissues by mistake.

There are more than 80 types of autoimmune diseases. They can affect almost any part of your body. For example, alopecia areata is an autoimmune disease of the skin that causes hair loss. Autoimmune hepatitis affects the liver. In type 1 diabetes, the immune system attacks the pancreas. And in rheumatoid arthritis, the immune system can attack many parts of the body, including the joints, lungs, and eyes.

What causes autoimmune diseases?

No one is sure why autoimmune diseases happen. But you can't catch them from other people.

Autoimmune diseases do tend to run in families, which means that certain genes may make some people more likely to develop a problem. Viruses, certain chemicals, and other things in the environment may trigger an autoimmune disease if you already have the genes for it.

Who is at risk for autoimmune diseases?

Millions of Americans of all ages have autoimmune diseases. Women develop many types of autoimmune diseases much more often than men. And if you have one autoimmune disease, you are more likely to get another.

What are the symptoms of autoimmune diseases?

The symptoms of an autoimmune disease depend on the part of your body that's affected. Many types of autoimmune diseases cause redness, swelling, heat, and pain, which are the signs and symptoms of inflammation. But other illnesses can cause the same symptoms.

The symptoms of autoimmune diseases can come and go. During a flare-up, your symptoms may get severe for a while. Later on, you may have a remission, which means that your symptoms get better or disappear for a period of time.

How are autoimmune diseases diagnosed?

Doctors often have a hard time diagnosing autoimmune diseases. There's usually not a specific test to show whether you have a certain autoimmune disease. And the symptoms can be confusing. That's because many autoimmune diseases have similar symptoms. And some symptoms, such as muscle aches, are common in many other illnesses. So it can take a long time and some visits to different types of doctors to get a diagnosis.

To help your doctor find out if an autoimmune disease is causing your symptoms,:

What are the treatments for autoimmune diseases?

The treatment depends on the disease. In most cases, the goal of treatment is to suppress (slow down) your immune system, and ease swelling, redness, and pain from inflammation. Your doctor may give you corticosteroids or other medicines to help you feel better. For some diseases, you may need treatment for the rest of your life.

Eosinophilic Disorders

Eosinophils are a type of white blood cell. They help fight off infections and play a role in your body's immune response. They can also build up and cause inflammation.

Normally your blood doesn't have a large number of eosinophils. Your body may produce more of them in response to:

In some conditions, the eosinophils can move outside the bloodstream and build up in organs and tissues. This can happen in many different parts of the body, including the esophagus, heart, lungs, blood, and intestines. Treatment of eosinophilic disorders can vary, depending on the cause and which part of the body is affected. Steroids are often part of the treatment.

Hepatitis

What is hepatitis?

Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver. Inflammation is swelling that happens when tissues of the body are injured or infected. It can damage your liver. This swelling and damage can affect how well your liver functions.

Hepatitis can be an acute (short-term) infection or a chronic (long-term) infection. Some types of hepatitis cause only acute infections. Other types can cause both acute and chronic infections.

What causes hepatitis?

There are different types of hepatitis, with different causes:

How is viral hepatitis spread?

Hepatitis A and hepatitis E usually spread through contact with food or water that was contaminated with an infected person's stool. You can also get hepatitis E by eating undercooked pork, deer, or shellfish.

Hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and hepatitis D spread through contact with the blood of someone who has the disease. Hepatitis B and D may also spread through contact with other body fluids. This can happen in many ways, such as sharing drug needles or having unprotected sex.

Who is at risk for hepatitis?

The risks are different for the different types of hepatitis. For example, with most of the viral types, your risk is higher if you have unprotected sex. People who drink a lot over long periods of time are at risk for alcoholic hepatitis.

What are the symptoms of hepatitis?

Some people with hepatitis do not have symptoms and do not know they are infected. If you do have symptoms, they may include:

If you have an acute infection, your symptoms can start anywhere between 2 weeks to 6 months after you got infected. If you have a chronic infection, you may not have symptoms until many years later.

What other problems can hepatitis cause?

Chronic hepatitis can lead to complications such as cirrhosis (scarring of the liver), liver failure, and liver cancer. Early diagnosis and treatment of chronic hepatitis may prevent these complications.

How is hepatitis diagnosed?

To diagnose hepatitis, your health care provider:

What are the treatments for hepatitis?

Treatment for hepatitis depends on which type you have and whether it is acute or chronic. Acute viral hepatitis often goes away on its own. To feel better, you may just need to rest and get enough fluids. But in some cases, it may be more serious. You might even need treatment in a hospital.

There are different medicines to treat the different chronic types of hepatitis. Possible other treatments may include surgery and other medical procedures. People who have alcoholic hepatitis need to stop drinking. If your chronic hepatitis leads to liver failure or liver cancer, you may need a liver transplant.

Can hepatitis be prevented?

There are different ways to prevent or lower your risk for hepatitis, depending on the type of hepatitis. For example, not drinking too much alcohol can prevent alcoholic hepatitis. There are vaccines to prevent hepatitis A and B. Autoimmune hepatitis cannot be prevented.

NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Lupus

What is lupus?

Lupus is a chronic (long-lasting) type of autoimmune disease.Autoimmune diseases happen when your immune system attacks healthy cells and tissues by mistake. This attack causes inflammation. It can also damage many parts of the body, including the joints, skin, kidneys, heart, lungs, and brain.

There are several types of lupus:

What causes lupus?

The cause of lupus is unknown. Researchers are studying what might cause or trigger the disease, such as:

Who is more likely to get lupus?

Anyone can get lupus, but women get it much more often than men.

Lupus is more common in African Americans than in White people. It is also more common in people of American Indian and Asian descent. African American and Hispanic women are more likely to have severe forms of lupus.

What are the symptoms of lupus?

Lupus can have many symptoms, and they differ from person to person. Some of the more common ones are:

Symptoms may come and go. When you are having symptoms, it is called a flare. Flares can range from mild to severe. New symptoms may appear at any time.

What other problems can lupus cause?

Lupus causes inflammation throughout your body. This can cause problems in your organs, including:

Some people with lupus may be more likely to develop other conditions, such as coronary artery disease (CAD) and atherosclerosis.

How is lupus diagnosed?

There is no specific test for lupus, and it's often mistaken for other diseases that cause similar symptoms. So it may take a while to get a diagnosis. To find out if you have lupus, your health care provider:

What are the treatments for lupus?

There is no cure for lupus, but medicines and lifestyle changes can help control it.

People with lupus often need to see different providers. You will most likely have a primary care provider and a rheumatologist (a doctor who specializes in diseases of the joints and muscles). Which other specialists you will depend on how lupus affects your body. For example, if lupus is damaging your heart or blood vessels, you would see a cardiologist (a doctor who specializes in heart diseases).

Your primary care provider should coordinate care between all of your other providers and treat other problems as they come up. You and your primary care provider will develop a treatment plan to fit your needs. You will both review the plan often to make sure that it is working. You should report new symptoms to your provider right away so that your treatment plan can be changed, if needed.

The goals of a treatment plan are to:

Treatments may include drugs to:

Besides taking medicines for lupus, you may need to take medicines for problems that are related to lupus such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or infection.

Alternative and complementary therapies are therapies that are not part of standard treatments. Some people try alternative and complementary therapies to improve their lupus symptoms. But research has not clearly shown whether these treatments may help or treat lupus. Talk to your provider before trying any new treatments.

How can I cope with lupus?

It is important to take an active role in your treatment. It helps to learn more about lupus - being able to spot the warning signs of a flare can help you prevent the flare or make the symptoms less severe.

It is also important to find ways to cope with the stress of having lupus. Exercising and finding ways to relax may make it easier for you to cope. A good support system can also help.

NIH: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a form of arthritis that causes pain, swelling, stiffness and loss of function in your joints. It can affect any joint but is common in the wrist and fingers.

More women than men get rheumatoid arthritis. It often starts in middle age and is most common in older people. You might have the disease for only a short time, or symptoms might come and go. The severe form can last a lifetime.

Rheumatoid arthritis is different from osteoarthritis, the common arthritis that often comes with older age. RA can affect body parts besides joints, such as your eyes, mouth and lungs. RA is an autoimmune disease, which means the arthritis results from your immune system attacking your body's own tissues.

No one knows what causes rheumatoid arthritis. Genes, environment, and hormones might contribute. Treatments include medicine, lifestyle changes, and surgery. These can slow or stop joint damage and reduce pain and swelling.

NIH: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases

Sjogren's Syndrome

What is Sjogren's syndrome?

Sjogren's syndrome, also called Sjogren's disease, is a chronic (long-lasting) autoimmune disease. When you have an autoimmune disease, your immune system attacks healthy tissues and organs by mistake. In Sjogren's syndrome, your immune system attacks the glands that make moisture in the eyes, mouth, and other parts of the body. This causes a dry mouth and dry eyes. You may have dryness in other places that need moisture, such as your nose, throat, and skin. Sjogren's can also affect other parts of the body, including your joints, lungs, kidneys, blood vessels, digestive organs, and nerves.

What causes Sjogren's syndrome?

Normally, your immune system protects the body from infection and disease. But with Sjogren's syndrome and other autoimmune diseases, your immune system attacks healthy tissues and organs. Researchers don't know for sure what causes the immune system to do this. But they think that it is caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Studies have linked Sjogren's syndrome to gene changes in several genes. Some researchers also think that the disease may be triggered by something in the environment. For example, they think that one possible trigger could be a previous infection with a virus or bacteria.

Who is more likely to develop Sjogren's syndrome?

Most people with Sjogren's syndrome are women. You can get it at any age, but it is most common in people in their 40s and 50s.

Sjogren's syndrome is more common in people who have other autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. This is known as a secondary form of Sjogren's syndrome. People who don't have another autoimmune disease have a primary form of Sjogren's syndrome.

What are the symptoms of Sjogren's syndrome?

Sjogren's syndrome may have different effects on the body. Not everyone will have the same symptoms. Some people have cycles of mild and then severe symptoms.

The two main symptoms are:

Sjogren's syndrome can also affect other parts of the body, causing symptoms such as:

How is Sjogren's syndrome diagnosed?

There is no single test for Sjogren's syndrome. To find out if you have it, your provider:

What are the treatments for Sjogren's syndrome?

There is no cure for Sjogren's syndrome. Treatment focuses on relieving your symptoms. The treatments can be different for each person, depending on which parts of the body are affected. They may include:

You can also try to relieve some of your symptoms by sucking on sugar-free candy, drinking water often, increasing the humidity in your room, and not smoking. Because having a dry mouth can raise your risk of cavities, it's important to take good care of your teeth and see your dentist regularly.

Thyroid Diseases

Your thyroid is a small, butterfly-shaped gland in the front of your neck. It makes hormones that control the way the body uses energy. These hormones affect nearly every organ in your body and control many of your body's most important functions. For example, they affect your breathing, heart rate, weight, digestion, and moods.

Thyroid diseases cause your thyroid to make either too much or too little of the hormones. Some of the different thyroid diseases include:

To diagnose thyroid diseases, your health care provider may use a medical history, physical exam, and thyroid tests. In some cases, your provider may also do a biopsy.

Treatment depends on the problem, how severe it is, and what your symptoms are. Possible treatments may include medicines, radioiodine therapy, or thyroid surgery.

Dept. of Health and Human Services Office on Women's Health

Thyroid Tests

Your thyroid is a small, butterfly-shaped gland in the front of your neck. It makes hormones that control the way the body uses energy. These hormones affect nearly every organ in your body and control many of your body's most important functions. For example, they affect your breathing, heart rate, weight, digestion, and moods.

Thyroid tests check how well your thyroid is working. They are also used to diagnose and help find the cause of thyroid diseases such as hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism. Thyroid tests include blood tests and imaging tests.

Blood tests for your thyroid include:

Imaging tests include:

NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Popular Medical Dictionary Searches: Ibuprofen  Aspirin  Dementia  Breast Cancer  Fibrosis  Headache  Mesothelioma  Migraine

Medical Dictionary is a free resource to look up medical terms. Trademarks belong to their respective owners.
Copyright 1999 - 2024 Medical Dictionary Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy. Medical Disclaimer.