auto-, aut-
(Greek: self, same, spontaneous; directed from within)
2. The nonspecific agglutination or clumping together of cells (bacteria or erythrocytes, for example) as the result of physical-chemical factors.
3. The agglutination of particulate antigens; such as, bacteria, which does not involve an antibody.
2. Hemolysis of the blood cells of a person by his own serum.
2. A self-induced hypnotic state, often employed as a way to enhance the suggestions given the subject by the therapist; self-hypnosis and idiohypnotism.
3. The intelligent use of self-hypnosis offers much to the individual in whom increased efficiency in concentration, relaxation, self-control, and learning capacity is important. Duncan A. Holbert, M.D.
Based on information from Word and Phrase Origins
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.
2. Antibody production by an organism in response to and against any of its own tissues.
2. The direct reinfection of a host individual by larval offspring of an existing parasite.