2. Marked by the state of autoimmunity or having the property of responding immunologically to tissues of one's own body.
3. In autoimmune disorders, components of a body's immune system target one or more of the person's own tissues.
More than 40 autoimmune conditions have been identified, including such common examples as type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and celiac disease.
Together they constitute the third leading cause of sickness and death after heart disease and cancer; and they afflict between five and eight percent of the U.S. population, racking up an annual medical bill in the tens of billions of dollars.
Forecasts of the future have always intrigued and frightened people. Handled properly, such knowledge could benefit the millions of patients and doctors destined to battle autoimmune diseases.
By making early intervention possible, predictive autoantibodies have the potential to alleviate much misery and to help provide extra years of healthy life.