TRENDING WELLNESS TOPIC: A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Immunology: Autoimmune and Autoinflammatory Diseases and COVID-19

What is the problem?

Autoimmune diseases erroneously attack healthy cells, tissues, and organs, weakening bodily function and even becoming life-threatening. More than 80 autoimmune diseases have been discovered, including some of the more well-known ones, such as type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, lupus, and rheumatoid arthritis. Others are rare and difficult to diagnose, and often patients suffer years before receiving a diagnosis and treatment. Many have no cure and require lifelong treatment to manage symptoms. It is important for healthcare professionals to know about the normal and pathologic immune response to allow a better understanding and treatment of autoimmune diseases. It is also important to know about the gender, genetic and environmental factors that affect autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus. 

Learning Objectives

• Recognize the functions of the innate and adaptive immune response and how it functions in response to infections like COVID-19 and autoimmune diseases
• Identify the way drugs that suppress specific pathways of the immune response are selected and developed and which drugs work for which autoimmune disease
• Differentiate autoinflammatory from autoimmune diseases and effectively treat these diseases

CLICK HERE to download a PDF file featuring information gaps, potential needs, and references for this topic.

If your medical staff needs an update on diagnosing and treating autoimmune and autoinflammatory diseases, consider contacting our office to book a speaker at 877-505-4777 or info@speakersnetwork.com.

REFERENCES

https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/conditions/autoimmune/index.cfm#:~:text=Some%20are%20well%20known%2C%20such,these%20diseases%20have%20no%20cure.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30099999/#:~:text=Autoimmune%20disorders%20are%20a%20category,well%20as%20the%20systems%20involved.

https://www.womenshealth.gov/a-z-topics/autoimmune-diseases