Autoimmune Diseases
Your body's immune system protects you from disease and infection. But if you have an autoimmune disease, your immune system attacks healthy cells in your body by mistake. Autoimmune diseases can affect many parts of the body. These diseases tend to run in families. Women - particularly African-American, Hispanic-American, and Native-American women - have a higher risk for some autoimmune diseases. The diseases may also have flare-ups, when they get worse, and remissions, when they all but disappear. The diseases do not usually go away, but symptoms can be treated.
Multiple Sclerosis
Is a disease affecting nerves in the brain and spinal cord, causing problems with muscle movement,balance and vision. Every nrve fibre in the brain and spinal cord is surrounded by a layer of protein called myelin which protects the nerve and helps electrical signals from the brain travel to the rest of the body. In MS, the myelin becomes damaged. This disrupts the transfer the transfer of these nerve signals,causing a wide range of potential symptoms such as: * numbness and tingling * blurring of vision * problems with mobility and balance * muscle weakness and tightness * MS can damage nerve fibres in your brain and spinal cord, which can cause muscles to contract tightly and painfully (spasm). Your muscles may also become stiff and resistant to movement, which is known as spasticity. * Neuropathic pain – caused by damage to the nerve fibres in the brain and spinal cord. It can be a stabbing pain, extreme skin sensitivity, or a burning sensation. * difficulty emptying the bladder completely * having to urinate more frequently * having a sudden, urgent need to urinate which can lead to unintentionally passing urine (urge incontinence) Treatment
There’s no cure for MS but there are different ways to manage it. This might include drug treatments for individual symptoms or relapses, diet , exercise and complementary and alternative therapies
Why do people develop multiple sclerosis?
It is not understood what causes the immune system to attack myelin, although there are several theories. Most experts agree that MS is probably caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. This means it's partly due to genes you inherit from your parents and partly due to outside factors that may trigger the condition.
Genetic factors
MS is not defined as a genetic condition because there is no single gene that causes it. It's not directly inherited, although research has shown people who are related to someone with MS are more likely to develop it.
Researchers have found that if one twin develops MS then the second twin has around a one in four chance of also developing MS.The chances of a brother, sister, or child of a person with MS also developing MS themselves is less than 1 in 30.It's possible that different combinations of genes make developing MS more likely, and research into this is continuing. However, genetic theories cannot explain the wide variation in occurrences of MS throughout the world.
Sunlight and vitamin D
Research into MS around the world has shown that it's more likely to occur in countries far from the equator. For example, MS is relatively common in the UK, North America and Scandinavia, but rare in Malaysia or Ecuador.It’s possible that people living further from the equator are exposed to less sunlight and, therefore, have less vitamin D in their bodies. Some studies have found a link between lower levels of vitamin D and incidence of MS.Some researchers have suggested that vitamin D supplements may reduce the risk of MS. However, this has not been proven.
Viral infection
Another theory is that MS may be the result of viral infection of the nervous system and /or the immune system. The idea is that the virus lies dormant for many years and then periodically ‘re-awakens’, triggering an autoimmune response against the nervous system.This could explain the relapse-remission nature of most cases of MS. A virus called the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is known to act in this way, but there is currently no firm evidence that EBV, or any other virus, is responsible for MS.
Problems with blood flow
A new and controversial theory is that some cases of MS may actually be due to problems with the flow of blood inside the body.The idea is that some people may have narrowing of veins inside their brain and spinal cord and the blood supply from the brain and spine has trouble returning to the heart (known as cerebrospinal venous insufficiency). This could lead to a build-up of tiny iron deposits inside nerve tissue, which may damage the nerves and /or trigger an immune response.
Some studies have found higher-than-expected levels of cerebrospinal venous insufficiency in people with MS, but others have not.
Further research is ongoing looking at larger groups of people and using more sophisticated brain imaging scanning.

Pernicious anaemia Causes and risk factors
Pernicious anaemia is caused by a lack of vitamin B12. This vitamin is vital for the manufacture of new red blood cells. When it's in short supply, red blood cells are produced in smaller numbers, are abnormally large in size (megaloblastic) and don't last as long as they should. Consequently, anaemia develops.Pernicious anaemia develops when the body becomes unable to absorb vitamin B12 properly from food. Normally a protein known as intrinsic factor, which is made in the stomach, attaches to vitamin B12 and carries through the intestinal wall into the blood stream. However in pernicious anaemia, the stomach cells that produce intrinsic factor become damaged, vitamin B12 is no longer absorbed and a deficiency develops, leading to anaemia.
Such damage can occur as the result of an autoimmune disorder, where the body attacks itself. This tends to run in families and is more likely to occur if someone already has had other auto-immune diseases of the hormone glands such as thyroid disease or diabetes.
Vitamin B12 deficiency can also occur for reasons other than pernicious anaemia. In some people, the deficiency arises because there is just not enough B12 in the diet. Vitamin B12 is only found in foods of animal origin, such as meat, fish, cheese, eggs and milk, so a strict vegetarian or vegan diet, without vitamin supplements, can lead to a deficiency. Vegans in particular should make sure their diet includes food fortified with B12.
Other causes of B12 deficiency include certain medicines (especially some used for tuberculosis), heavy infestations of intestinal parasites, and rare metabolic disorders.
A simple blood test can diagnose anaemia and an examination of the red blood cells can determine whether they're larger than normal. If this is the case a Schilling test, which measures the body's ability to absorb vitamin B12 from the bowel, will determine whether it's pernicious anaemia. However for most people on a normal diet, especially the elderly, a Schilling test is not thought necessary. Instead, a blood test is done to measure levels of vitamin B12 (and also folate – another nutrient which, if deficient, can cause megaloblastic anaemia). If B12 levels are low, pernicious anaemia is presumed and treatment started.
Symptoms
The symptoms of anaemia include tiredness, light-headedness, shortness of breath and heart palpitations. Other symptoms that may arise from a vitamin B12 deficiency are soreness of the tongue and mouth, weight loss and bouts of diarrhoea. Vitamin B12 is also needed to help keep nerves healthy, so if a deficiency isn't treated there may be tingling and numbness in the fingers and toes, weakness and balance problems, memory loss and confusion.
Treatment
Treatment for pernicious anaemia is highly effective and involves an injection of vitamin B12 (it isn't absorbed properly if given by mouth). Once the deficiency has been corrected, a maintenance dose of vitamin B12 is given every three months for life. With treatment, the majority of people make a full recovery.

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease in which the body's defence mechanisms go into action when there's no threat. In this case, the immune system attacks the joints and sometimes other parts of the body. It's not yet known why the immune system acts in this way in some people. Rheumatoid arthritis is a common disease affecting about one in 100 people. People of all ages have the condition, but it most commonly starts between the ages of 30 and 50. Three times as many women are affected as men.
Symptoms
The joints become inflamed, particularly: * The synovial membrane * The tendon sheaths * The bags of fluid that allow muscles and tendons to move smoothly over one another (bursae)
Inflammation sometimes becomes far worse - known as a 'flare-up' - when the joints become warm and red as blood flow to the area increases. The synovial membrane produces extra fluid, causing swelling and a stretching of the ligaments around the joint. The result is a stiff, swollen and painful joint.In one in five cases, rheumatoid arthritis develops very rapidly but more often the symptoms develop over several months. Treating inflammation as quickly as possible is vital because once joint damage has occurred it can't be reversed. Most people get fluctuating pain and stiffness that gets worse during flare-ups. Whereas in osteoarthritis morning stiffness wears off quickly, in rheumatoid and other forms of inflammatory arthritis it usually lasts more than 45 minutes. Many people find that the condition gives them flu-like symptoms and makes them tired, irritable or depressed.
There is no single gene to blame for rheumatoid arthritis, and when one family member develops the disease the risk to others in the family is small. However, although about 0.5 to one per cent of people in most populations will develop rheumatoid arthritis, it is much more common among the Pima Indians (5.3 per cent) and the Chippewa Indians (6.8 per cent) and far less common in China and Japan. This shows that genetics do play some part in predisposing to rheumatoid arthritis.

The aim of rheumatoid arthritis treatment is to reduce inflammation in the joints, relieve pain, prevent or slow joint damage, reduce disability and provide support to help you live as active a life as possible.