slb@drutx.UUCP (Sue Brezden) (10/24/85)
I've been wondering about auto-immune diseases lately. My musings
are based on these pieces of information:
1. MS has been said to be an autoimmune disease. It
strikes women much more often than men. It also
seems to be associated with northern European ancestry,
and victims often live around or above the 40th parallel.
It runs in families, but is not directly hereditary.
It tends to start in people in their late 20's or 30's.
2. Grave's disease (the most common form of hyperthyroidism)
is said to be autoimmune. It occurs more often in women
than in men. It runs in families, but is not directly
hereditary. It tends to start in people in their late
20's or 30's.
3. My mother has MS. Her father had it. We believe his
father had it (although it is too long ago to be sure.)
4. I have hyperthyroidism, which may be Grave's disease.
The questions are these:
1. How many diseases have been identified as autoimmune?
What are they?
2. Do women show more autoimmune diseases in general, or
is this true only for my two examples above?
3. Likewise, do some of the other risk factors for the
two above diseases apply to autoimmune diseases in
general?
4. Do people with one autoimmune disease have more, less,
or the same chance of having another?
5. Does history of one autoimmune disease in a family
put a member of the family at risk for another autoimmune
disease?
Does anyone know if these sorts of things have been studied? I have
found no reference to them--but our local library isn't real packed with
medical references. (As a woman, of northern European ancestry, living
within a few miles of the 40th parallel, I'm curious for obvious reasons.)
--
Sue Brezden
ihnp4!drutx!slb
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I march to the beat of a different drummer, whose identity,
location, and musical ability are as yet unknown.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~margaret@asgb.UUCP (Margaret Ann Farnik) (11/08/85)
> The questions are these: > 1. How many diseases have been identified as autoimmune? > What are they? Arthritis, and its related diseases (gout, Systemic Lupus Erythematosis (which I have)) are considered to be autoimmune diseases. > 2. Do women show more autoimmune diseases in general, or > is this true only for my two examples above? Approximately 80+% of the people who suffer from Lupus are women. It generally strikes women between the ages of 20 and 40. I believe that arthritis is also more prevalent in women, but I don't have my Arthritis Foundation literature here at work. > 3. Likewise, do some of the other risk factors for the > two above diseases apply to autoimmune diseases in > general? For Lupus, at least, one of the risk factors involved with triggering the disease is the sun. Here in Colorado, there is a great deal of UV light, which causes flares of the disease. I don't know if there is any other risk factor (such as ancestry.) > 4. Do people with one autoimmune disease have more, less, > or the same chance of having another? I hope not! Fighting one of them is quite enough. Seriously, I don't know about this one. Craig or Steve, could you help us out here? > 5. Does history of one autoimmune disease in a family > put a member of the family at risk for another autoimmune > disease? > Although there is no positive clinical proof, it is generally believed that for Lupus, there is some familial connection. This is true for me- there is arthritis on both sides of my family, my grandfather passed away from colon cancer last March, and my dad has been through two bouts of chemotherapy for lymphoma (presently in remission.) There is also a strong family history of diabetes. (I guess I'm just a genetic reject :-) > Does anyone know if these sorts of things have been studied? I have > found no reference to them--but our local library isn't real packed with > medical references. (As a woman, of northern European ancestry, living > within a few miles of the 40th parallel, I'm curious for obvious reasons.) > -- > > Sue Brezden > ihnp4!drutx!slb > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I'm sure that there have been lots of studies on this. Since you're close to both CU and DU, perhaps you could check out their libraries. Caveat: when I first found out I had Lupus, I headed straight for the library at Colo State University, where I was going to school. Everything I found said that the disease was terminal within three years. I had to worry for two weeks until the hematologist I was to see could fit me in for an appointment. THEN, I found out that the information in the library was true 10 years ago, but not today. (After 4.2 years, I'm still here!) As long as we're talking about autoimmune diseases, are there any other Lupins out there on the net? Perhaps we could correspond, and share survival techniques. Do any of you net.doctors.to_be have any new information on Lupus? I hope this answers some of your questions. Margaret Farnik Burroughs DSG, Boulder, Colorado {hao, bmcg}!asgb!margaret
peter@graffiti.UUCP (Peter da Silva) (11/10/85)
> 2. Do women show more autoimmune diseases in general, or > is this true only for my two examples above? I have been told that male pattern baldness is an autoimmune effect. I have no references to support this, of course. -- Name: Peter da Silva Graphic: `-_-' UUCP: ...!shell!{graffiti,baylor}!peter IAEF: ...!kitty!baylor!peter