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Concept
Immune disorder
Summary
An immune disorder is a dysfunction of the immune system. These disorders can be characterized in several different ways:
By the component(s) of the immune system affected
By whether the immune system is overactive or underactive
By whether the condition is congenital or acquired
According to the International Union of Immunological Societies, more than 150 primary immunodeficiency diseases (PIDs) have been characterized. However, the number of acquired immunodeficiencies exceeds the number of PIDs.
It has been suggested that most people have at least one primary immunodeficiency. Due to redundancies in the immune system, though, many of these are never detected.
Autoimmune disease
An autoimmune disease is a condition arising from an abnormal immune response to a normal body part. There are at least 80 types of autoimmune diseases. Nearly any body part can be involved. Common symptoms include low-grade fever and feeling tired. Often symptoms come and go.
List of autoimmune diseases
Lupus
Scleroderma
Certain types of hemolytic anemia
Vasculitis
Type 1 diabetes
Graves' disease
Rheumatoid arthritis
Multiple sclerosis (although it is thought to be an immune-mediated process)
Goodpasture syndrome
Pernicious anemia
Some types of myopathy
Lyme disease (Late)
Celiac disease
Alopecia Areata
immunodeficiency
Primary immune deficiency diseases are those caused by inherited genetic mutations. Secondary or acquired immune deficiencies are caused by something outside the body such as a virus or immune suppressing drugs.
Primary immune diseases are at risk to an increased susceptibility to, and often recurrent ear infections, pneumonia, bronchitis, sinusitis or skin infections. Immunodeficient patients may less frequently develop abscesses of their internal organs, autoimmune or rheumatologic and gastrointestinal problems.
Primary immune deficiencies
Severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID)
DiGeorge syndrome
Hyperimmunoglobulin E syndrome (also known as Job's Syndrome)
Common variable immunodeficiency (CVID): B cell levels are normal in circulation but with decreased production of IgG throughout the years, so it is the only primary immune disorder that presents onset in the late teens years.
Official source
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Related concepts (5)
Virus
A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Since Dmitri Ivanovsky's 1892 article describing a non-bacterial pathogen infecting tobacco plants and the discovery of the tobacco mosaic virus by Martinus Beijerinck in 1898, more than 11,000 of the millions of virus species have been described in detail.
Lupus
Lupus, technically known as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue in many parts of the body. Symptoms vary among people and may be mild to severe. Common symptoms include painful and swollen joints, fever, chest pain, hair loss, mouth ulcers, swollen lymph nodes, feeling tired, and a red rash which is most commonly on the face. Often there are periods of illness, called flares, and periods of remission during which there are few symptoms.
Primary immunodeficiency
Primary immunodeficiencies are disorders in which part of the body's immune system is missing or does not function normally. To be considered a primary immunodeficiency (PID), the immune deficiency must be inborn, not caused by secondary factors such as other disease, drug treatment, or environmental exposure to toxins. Most primary immunodeficiencies are genetic disorders; the majority are diagnosed in children under the age of one, although milder forms may not be recognized until adulthood.