March is Autoimmune Disease Awareness Month and Women’s History Month. The two go hand-in-hand because women are disproportionately at risk of contracting autoimmune diseases. There are over 100 known autoimmune diseases. Examples of autoimmune diseases, also referred to as immune system disorders, include lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), multiple sclerosis (MS), type 1 diabetes, psoriasis, Graves’ disease, vasculitis, and alopecia.
According to WebMD, “Immune system disorders cause abnormally low activity or over activity of the immune system. In cases of immune system overactivity, the body attacks and damages its own tissues (autoimmune diseases).”
Autoimmune diseases are difficult to diagnose. They are often referred to as silent assassins because they are not noticeable on the outside. However, autoimmune diseases affect approximately 8% of the population, the majority of whom are women. Approximately 6.7 million women have autoimmune diseases.
Megan Clowse, M.D., a rheumatologist and associate professor of medicine at Duke University, said, “10 women have autoimmune thyroid disease for every man who does. In the case of lupus, the ratio is nine to one; for rheumatoid arthritis, three to one; and for multiple sclerosis, two to one.”
Great speculation surrounds the fact that women are more susceptible to autoimmune diseases than men. Research reveals that there is often a genetic component involved; autoimmune diseases tend to run in families. However, outside factors also contribute.
Many autoimmune diseases tend to affect women during periods of hormonal stress, such as pregnancy or menopause. Clowse stated, “Women have a somewhat different immune system than men” […] “A woman’s immune system has to be more pliable to tolerate a baby.” Experts have theorized the association of autoimmune diseases with the X chromosome, for the X chromosome contains more genes than the Y chromosome. A female person typically has two X chromosomes and, therefore, is at higher risk of contracting autoimmune diseases, as compared to male persons (NIH).
Although autoimmune diseases can be genetic, a person may not develop an autoimmune disease without environmental influences, such as infections, drugs, smoking, certain hair dyes and chemicals. To learn more about autoimmune diseases, there is a plethora of information that can be easily located on the internet.
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