Autoimmune Diseases

About 10 million people in the United States are affected by autoimmune diseases, which include lupus, multiple sclerosis and insulin-dependent, or type 1 diabetes. Blamed on exposure to infectious agents and genetic susceptibility, autoimmune diseases are also caused by factors in the environment. Many recent studies have found a connection between these specific diseases and exposure to agents in the environment like vinyl chloride, metals, mycotoxins, and organic compounds. Your research paper should seek to define autoimmune diseases and outlines their causes and risk factors.
Currently there are more than 80 autoimmune diseases. They are chronic conditions, can be life threatening, and are a major concern to this country's public health administrators and health care workers. A few autoimmune diseases that are more common are:
- Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
- Glomerulonephritis
- Multiple sclerosis
- Autoimmune thyroiditis
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Myositis
The diseases above occur when the body's immunities attack healthy tissues and cells. Normally protected against these attacks, tissues and cells that are assailed and destroyed by autoimmune diseases react by becoming inflamed. Sometimes one organ is affected. Sometimes many organs and tissues are affected. Depending on the severity of the condition, the most common symptoms of autoimmune diseases can range from a mild rash to life-threatening circumstances and almost always include fatigue, dizziness, malaise, and low-grade fever. And while each autoimmune disease is different, all patients who suffer with one experience immune system malfunction. Paper Masters can compose a custom written research paper on Autoimmune Diseases that follows your guidelines.
Autoimmune Disease: Genetic and Environmental
According to the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association, "all autoimmune diseases are a consequence of impaired immune function that results from interactions of genetic and environmental factors." The organization's website states that genetic factors account for about one-third of all autoimmune diseases. The rest are blamed on non-inherited events, like being human and the diversity of the human immune system, which reacts to a wide range of viruses, infections, and bacteria.
Most people experience a mild form of autoimmune response when their immune systems mount an attack on one of its own tissues. That's natural. But when a person is predisposed to autoimmunity by genetics or environmental factors like toxic chemicals, drugs, bacteria, or viruses, a full-blown reaction can be triggered. For example, one recent study found that non-autoimmune strains of mice treated with estrogen, a female sex hormone, suppressed the action of their helper T cells while stimulating the production of B cells, which produce antibodies. The imbalance that results was found to increase the incidence of autoimmune disease. More studies have revealed that certain environmental factors can be linked to specific autoimmune diseases. One study discovered that exposure to certain dietary characteristics contribute to the acquisition of type 1 diabetes. Other studies found that ultraviolet radiation is linked to multiple sclerosis; ionizing radiation blamed for systemic lupus erythematous; rheumatoid arthritis was blamed on stress, and exposure to heavy metals could account for some cases of autoimmune glomerulonephritis.
Related Research Paper Topic Suggestions
Alopecia - Alopecia research papers discuss the autoimmune condition where a person loses hair from one or all parts of the body.
Autoimmune Disease Symptoms - Autoimmune Disease Symptoms research papers discuss the disease that couses an abnormal response in the body's immune system to various substances or tissues that are normally found in the body.
Autoimmune Thyroiditis - Autoimmune Thyroiditis research papers examine a disease in which the body begins to attack the thyroid, producing antibodies that eventually destroy a person’s thyroid cells.
Graves' Disease - Graves’ Disease research papers examine the autoimmune disease that affects the thyroid gland, resulting in hyperthyroidism and an enlarged thyroid.
Hashimotos Disease - Hashimoto's disease research papers discuss the autoimmune disease also known as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.
Hyperthyroidism - Hyperthyroidism is explored in a medical research paper that covers the pathophysiology, assessment, diagnosis and treatments.
Immune System Diseases - Immune System Diseases research papers examine the diseases that effect the structures in the body that process and fight off disease.
Lupus - Lupus Research Papers probe questions about this disease that is not really acknowledged by public health officials.
Lymphadenopathy - Lymphadenopathy research papers examine the disease of the lymph nodes.
Multiple Sclerosis - Multiple Sclerosis Research Papers delve into a sample of a paper ordered for an analysis of the degenerative disorder.
Myasthenia Gravis - Myasthenia Gravis research papers examine the neuromuscular disease that results in fluctuating muscle weakness and fatigue.
Nervous System Disorders - Nervous System Disorders research papers discuss the two main types of nervous system disorders known as the central nervous system disease and peripheral neuropathy.
Scleroderma - Scleroderma Research Papers discuss the six different strands of the disorder, and the newest treatment options available.
Sjogren's Syndrome - Sjogren’s Syndrome research papers discuss the chronic autoimmune disorder that is characterized by the body’s white blood cells attacking and destroying the exocrine glands, specifically the salivary and lacrimal glands.
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus - Systemic Lupus Erythematosus research papers discuss the autoimmune disease, also known as lupus, in which the human body’s immune system begins to attack healthy tissue.
Types of Lupus - Types of Lupus Research Papers investigate systemic lupus, and drug induced lupus. Custom medical health research papers from Paper Masters.