Living with Autoimmune Diseases

2007 Women's Health Daybook Home > Living with Autoimmune Diseases

Our bodies have an immune system that protects us from disease and infection. But if you have an autoimmune disease, your immune system attacks itself by mistake, and you can get sick. Autoimmune diseases can affect connective tissue in your body. (Connective tissue binds together body tissues and organs.) Autoimmune disease can affect many parts of your body, such as your kidneys, nerves, muscles, endocrine system, and digestive system. (Your endocrine system directs your body's hormones and other chemicals.)

Most autoimmune diseases occur in women, and most often during their childbearing years. Some of these diseases occur more in African American, American Indian, and Latina women than in White women. Some common autoimmune diseases are Hashimoto's thyroiditis, Graves' disease, lupus, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis.

Download the Chapter: Living with Autoimmune Diseases — PDF file, 2.39 MB

Current as of February 2007