"You have lupus." In developed countries, an epidemic of autoimmune diseases?

Autoimmune diseases are not uncommon: 5-10% of the world population suffer from them. And recently they began to spread faster. So, in the United States, the number of cardiovascular diseases has recently been declining, and it is precisely the prevalence that autoimmune diseases come out in the first place, even overtaking cancer. Some experts believe that we can already talk about the epidemic, writes Tessa fishing in an article for the Elemental blog on Medium.

According to the immunologist and professor of the Medical University of Arkansas, Kathlene Gilbert, many secrets are associated with these diseases. What is an autoimmune reaction? Usually, the human immune system distinguishes between “its” and “alien”, but in case of violation of this ability, the immunity attacks the cells and tissues of the body of its master. When asked why this happens, so far there is no consensus. Moreover, there is not even a consensus about which diseases should be classified as autoimmune.

Researchers for the most part suggest that the cause of the growth of these diseases is changes in the environment, which, in turn, affect changes in our organisms. It is believed that thanks to scientific and technological progress and the development of medicine, we must be healthier. But progress has its own price. With the development of medicine, for example, excessive use of antibiotics and the appearance of superviruses come. Thus, autoimmune diseases may well be caused by our achievements in the industrialized world.

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