The Facts
Named a major women's health issue by the Office of Research on Women's Health at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), autoimmunity is the underlying cause of more than 100 serious, chronic illnesses. It targets women 75 percent of the time.
The term "autoimmune disease" refers to a varied group of illnesses that involve almost every human organ system. It includes diseases of the nervous, gastrointestinal, and endocrine systems, as well as skin and other connective tissues, eyes, blood and blood vessels. In all of these diseases, the underlying problem is similar - the body's immune system becomes misdirected and attacks the very organs it was designed to protect. The fact that women have enhanced immune systems compared to men increases women's resistance to many types of infection, but also makes them more susceptible to autoimmune diseases.
Taken together, autoimmune diseases strike women three times more than men. Some diseases have an even higher incidence in women. In fact, of the 50 million Americans living with autoimmunity, 30 million people are women, some estimates say. Autoimmune diseases have been cited in the top ten leading causes of all deaths among U.S. women age 65 and younger.1 Moreover, these diseases represent the fourth largest cause of disability among women in the United States.2
Different ethnic groups are more susceptible to certain autoimmune diseases. In lupus, for example, African American, Hispanic, Asian and Native American women are two to three times more likely to develop the disease than Caucasian women.3 And 9 out of 10 people who have lupus are women.4
| Table I Female:Male Ratios in Autoimmune Diseases | |
|
Hashimoto's thyroiditis |
10:1 |
|
Systemic lupus erythematosus |
9:1 |
|
Sjogren's syndrome |
9:1 |
|
Antiphospholipid syndrome-secondary |
9:1 |
|
Primary biliary cirrhosis |
9:1 |
|
Autoimmune hepatitis |
8:1 |
|
Graves' disease |
7:1 |
|
Scleroderma |
3:1 |
|
Rheumatoid arthritis |
2.5:1 |
|
Antiphospholipid syndrome-primary |
2:1 |
|
Autoimmune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) |
2:1 |
|
Multiple sclerosis |
2:1 |
|
Myasthenia gravis |
2:1 |