Top 10 autoimmune diseases in children
What are autoimmune diseases in children?
Autoimmune diseases are a group of conditions that occur when the body’s immune system attacks its healthy cells, tissues, or organs. Symptoms vary among the various autoimmune diseases and can include many different symptoms. The most common autoimmune diseases in children are rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, Addison’s disease, psoriasis, and type-1 diabetes.
Autoimmune conditions can affect any body part, but most affect joints and skin. Autoimmune diseases often begin when cells in your immune system attack your healthy tissue. The main feature of autoimmune disease is inflammation, which causes pain and swelling around certain joints and other body areas.
Type-1 diabetes
Type-1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that develops when your body’s immune system attacks and destroys the insulin-producing cells in your pancreas. It results in a lack of insulin, which causes glucose levels to rise. Type-1 diabetes is called an “autoimmune” disease because it’s caused by the body attacking itself.
The resulting loss of insulin production leads to high blood glucose levels. If untreated, type 1 diabetes can lead to kidney failure, blindness, amputation and even death.
Celiac disease
Celiac disease is an autoimmune condition that causes damage to the small intestine when eating gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye. Gluten is unique because it’s the only food protein that triggers an immune response in people with celiac disease. Celiac disease symptoms include chronic diarrhoea, abdominal pain, and malnutrition if undiagnosed or untreated.
The traditional treatment for celiac disease involves a lifelong gluten-free diet and sometimes medications that suppress the immune system.
Scleroderma
Scleroderma is an autoimmune skin disorder characterized by the thickening of skin tissues, joints, blood vessels and organs such as the heart or lungs. It can cause adverse reactions such as inflammation of internal organs like the liver or lymph nodes; inflammation of hands and feet; restricted movement; fatigue; joint pain; eye problems such as dry eyes.
Scleroderma is an autoimmune disorder that causes thickening (scleroderma) or hardening (hardening) of tissues throughout your body, including skin, muscles, tendons and internal organs. It’s most commonly known as a connective tissue disorder.
