Your immune system usually protects you from diseases and infections. When it senses these pathogens, it creates specific cells called “T-cells” to target foreign cells. Usually, your immune system can tell the difference between foreign cells and your cells/invaders. It’s like it can no longer tell the difference between what’s healthy and what’s not — between what’s you and what’s an invader.

But if you have an autoimmune disease, your immune system mistakes parts of your body, such as your joints or skin, as foreign. It releases proteins called autoantibodies that attack your own healthy cells.

Some autoimmune diseases target only one organ for example “damages your pancreas” (Type 1 diabetes). Other conditions, such as systemic lupus erythematosus, or lupus, can affect your whole body.

There are over 100 known autoimmune diseases, and most are not fatal. People can expect to live full lives with no shortening of typical life expectancy. Many researchers recognize giant cell myocarditis, a rare autoimmune condition that can lead to heart failure, as one of the most serious autoimmune diseases. It has a 1-year mortality rate of 70%.

Here a list of some autoimmune diseases

Different autoimmune diseases may have similar early symptoms. These can include:

• Fatigue.
• dizziness or lightheadedness.
• Low grade fever.
• Muscle aches.
• Swelling.
• Trouble concentrating.
• Numbness and tingling in your hands and feet.
• Hair loss.
• Skin rash.

Some common autoimmune diseases include:

Diseases of the joints and muscles:

• Psoriatic arthritis.
• Rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
• Sjögren’s syndrome.
• Systemic lupus erythematosus (Lupus, SLE).

With some autoimmune diseases, including psoriasis or rheumatoid arthritis (RA), symptoms (swelling, soreness, warmth, stiffness) may come (flare up) and go (remission).

RA more commonly affects people as they get older, but it can also start as early as your 30s. A related condition, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, can start in childhood.

Sjögren’s disease attacks the glands that provide lubrication to your eyes and mouth. The hallmark symptoms of Sjögren’s disease are dry eyes and dry mouth, but it may also affect your joints or skin.

Individual autoimmune diseases can also have their own unique symptoms depending on the body systems affected. For example, with type 1 diabetes, you may experience extreme thirst and weight loss. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) may cause bloating and diarrhea.

Doctors in the 1800s first described lupus as a skin disease because of the rash it commonly produces, the systemic form, which is most common, actually affects many organs for example:

• Joints.
• Kidneys.
• Brain.
• Heart.

Common symptoms can include:

• joint pain.
• fatigue.
• rashes.

Diseases of the digestive tract:

• Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
• Crohn’s disease.
• Celiac disease.
• Ulcerative colitis.

IBD describes conditions that cause inflammation in the lining of the intestinal wall. Each type of IBD affects a different part of your gastrointestinal (GI) tract.

Crohn’s disease can inflame any part of your GI tract, from the mouth to the anus.

Ulcerative colitis affects the lining of the large intestine (colon) and rectum.

Common symptoms of IBD can include:

• diarrhea,
• abdominal pain,
• bleeding ulcers,
• Celiac disease.

People with celiac disease can’t eat foods containing gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye, and other grain products. When gluten is in the small intestine, the immune system attacks this part of the GI tract and causes inflammation and may experience digestive issues after consuming gluten.

Symptoms can include:

• vomiting,
• diarrhea,
• constipation,
• abdominal bleeding.

According to researchers, diabetes, digestive, kidney diseases and celiac diseases affects about 1% of people in the world.

Diseases of the endocrine system:

• Graves’ disease

Graves’ disease attacks the thyroid gland in your neck, causing it to produce too much of its hormones. Thyroid hormones control the body’s energy usage (metabolism).

Having too much of these hormones revs up your body’s activities, causing symptoms that may include:

• Tachycardia
• Heat intolerance.
• Unintentional weight loss
• Swelling of the thyroid gland.

Some people with Graves’ disease may also experience symptoms affecting the skin (Graves’ dermopathy) or eyes (Graves’ ophthalmopathy).

• Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (In Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, thyroid hormone production slows to a deficiency. Common symptoms of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis can include: weight gain, sensitivity to cold, fatigue, hair loss, swelling of the thyroid.

• Addison’s disease (Addison’s disease affects the adrenal glands, which produce the hormones cortisol and aldosterone as well as androgen hormones. Too little cortisol can affect how your body uses and stores carbohydrates and sugar (glucose). Too little aldosterone can lead to sodium loss and excess potassium in your bloodstream).

Common symptoms of Addison’s disease can include:

• Weakness.
• Fatigue.
• Weight loss.
• Low blood sugar.

Diseases of the skin:

• Dermatomyositis.
• Psoriasis.

Skin cells grow and then shed when they’re no longer needed. Psoriasis causes skin cells to multiply too quickly. The extra cells build up and form inflamed patches. On lighter skin tones, patches may appear red with silver-white scales of plaque. On darker skin tones, psoriasis may appear purplish or dark brown with gray scales.

Up to 30% of people with psoriasis also develop psoriatic arthritis. This can cause joint symptoms that include:

• Swelling.
• Stiffness.
• Pain.

Diseases of the nervous system:

• Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP).
• Guillain-Barre syndrome.
• Multiple sclerosis (MS).

Multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) damages the protective coating surrounding nerve cells (myelin sheath) in your central nervous system. Damage to the myelin sheath slows the transmission speed of messages between your brain and spinal cord to and from the rest of your body.

This damage can lead to:

• Numbness.
• Weakness.
• Balance issues.
• Trouble walking.

Different forms of MS progress at different rates. Difficulties with walking are one of the most common mobility issues with MS.

Other diseases:

• Myasthenia gravis.
• Autoimmune vasculitis.
• Type 1 diabetes.
• Pernicious anemia.
• Vasculitis.

Myasthenia gravis affects nerve impulses that help the brain control muscles. When the communication from nerves to muscles is impaired, signals can’t direct the muscles to contract.

The most common symptom is muscle weakness. It may worsen with activity and improve with rest. Muscle weakness can also affect:

• Eye movements.
• Opening and closing eyes.
• Swallowing.
• Facial movements.

Your pancreas produces the hormone insulin, which helps regulate blood sugar levels. In type 1 diabetes, the immune system destroys insulin-producing cells in your pancreas.

High blood sugar from type 1 diabetes can damage the blood vessels and organs for example:

• Heart.
• Kidneys.
• Eyes.
• Nerves.

Pernicious anemia may happen when an autoimmune disorder causes your body to not produce enough of a substance called intrinsic factor. Having a deficiency in this substance reduces the amount of vitamin B12 your small intestine absorbs from food. It can cause a low red blood cell count. Without enough of this vitamin, you’ll develop anemia, and your body’s ability for proper DNA synthesis will be altered.

It can cause symptoms that include:

• Fatigue.
• Weakness.
• Headaches.

This rare autoimmune disease typically occurs in people ages 60 to 70 and older.

Autoimmune vasculitis happens when your immune system attacks blood vessels. The inflammation that results narrows your arteries and veins, allowing less blood to flow through them.

The precise cause of autoimmune diseases is unknown. Some autoimmune disorders can have similar symptoms at early stages. These can include fatigue, dizziness or lightheadedness, low grade fever, muscle aches, swelling etc.

Symptoms categorized by type of disease include:

Diseases of the joints and muscles:

• Muscle aches and pains.
• Joint pain, stiffness and swelling.
• Muscle weakness.
• Inflammation.

Digestive tract diseases:

• Bloating.
• Constipation.
• Abdominal pain.
• Acid reflux.
• Nausea.
• Food sensitivities.
• Blood or mucus in stool (poop).

Skin diseases:

• Rashes.
• Itching.
• Dry eyes.
• Dry mouth.
• Inflammation.
• Hair loss.
• Dry skin.

Diseases of the nervous system:

• Dizziness.
• Headaches.
• Anxiety and depression.
• Confusion and difficulty thinking.
• Blurry vision.
• Insomnia.
• Memory issues.
• Migraines.
• Lightheadedness.
• Numbness and tingling.

Other diseases:

• Fatigue.
• Pain.
• Fever.
• Chest pain.
• Swollen glands.
• Weight gain or loss.
• Rapid or irregular heartbeat.
• Shortness of breath.
• Temperature sensitivity.

Risk Factors

There are risk factors that may increase your chances of getting an autoimmune disease for example:

• Some allopathic (conventional) medications.
• Genetic.
• Smoking.
• Already having one autoimmune disease.
• Exposure to toxins.
• Being female — 78% of people who have an autoimmune disease are women.
• Obesity.
• Infections.

Diagnosing an autoimmune disease usually takes doctor longer than it does to diagnose other diseases. This is because many autoimmune diseases have similar symptoms with each other and with other diseases. You can help your doctor with the diagnosing process by bringing the following to your appointment:

• A detailed list of any symptoms and how long you’ve had them.
• A record of your family’s health history {Note if anyone in your family has an autoimmune disease}.

In addition to interviewing, your doctor may do some blood tests to check for autoimmune diseases, including:

• Antinuclear antibody test (ANA).
• Complete blood count (CBC).
• Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR).

Specific symptoms combined with specific blood markers may prove that you have an autoimmune disease.

 In allopathy or conventional medicines, there are no cures for autoimmune diseases, but only symptoms can be managed and can be controlled with allopathic/conventional medications. Till date, allopathic researchers are continuing to look for a cure.

Everyone’s immune system, genetics and environment are different. That means that your treatment must be unique.

For the symptoms of the most common autoimmune diseases like psoriatic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, connective tissue diseases, multiple sclerosis, autoimmune thyroid diseases such as Hashimoto’s, celiac disease, and inflammatory bowel disease, click on them to read full article, their conventional (allopathic) and Homeopathic treatments.

Some examples of allopathic medications used to treat autoimmune diseases include:

• Painkillers.
• Anti-inflammatory.
• Medications for depression and anxiety.
• Insulin injections.
• Sleeping medications.
• Plasma exchanges.
• Corticosteroids.
• Rash creams and pills.
• Intravenous immune globulin.
• Immunosuppressants (Drugs that suppress (subdue) immune system).

Homeopathic Treatment for Autoimmune Diseases

In Homeopathy, there are many proven medicines for the treatment and cures for autoimmune diseases, they all should be prescribed according to the symptoms. if you are not experimenting/searching for the new medicine, never prescribe single medicine (remedies), I (Dr. Qaisar Ahmed) prefer combination therapy for the best and fast results.

For the symptoms of the most common autoimmune diseases like psoriatic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, connective tissue diseases, multiple sclerosis, autoimmune thyroid diseases such as Hashimoto’s, celiac disease, and inflammatory bowel disease, click on desired link to read full article and their conventional (allopathic) and Homeopathic treatments.

P. S: This article is only for doctors having good knowledge about Homeopathy and allopathy, for learning purpose(s).

For proper consultation and treatment, please visit our clinic.

None of above-mentioned medicine(s) is/are the full/complete treatment but just hints for treatment; every patient has his/her own constitutional medicine.

Dr. Sayyad Qaisar Ahmed (MD {Ukraine}, DHMS), Abdominal Surgeries, Oncological surgeries, Gastroenterologist, Specialist Homeopathic Medicines.

 Senior research officer at Dnepropetrovsk state medical academy Ukraine.

Location:  Al-Haytham clinic, Umer Farooq Chowk Risalpur Sadder (0923631023, 03119884588), K.P.K, Pakistan.

Find more about Dr Sayed Qaisar Ahmed at:

https://www.youtube.com/Dr Qaisar Ahmed

https://www.facebook.com/ahmed drqaisar

https://www.drqaisarahmed.com.