Some families are more prone to autoimmune diseases than others. Affected family members may not all have the same condition, but they share a tendency toward automimmune problems. Any number of autoimmune diseases can emerge in a family.
The American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association (AARDA) wants to raise awareness of your family's AQ, or Autoimmune Quotient.
Be aware that more people in the U.S. suffer from autoimmune diseases than from cancer or heart disease.
Familiarize yourself with the 100 known autoimmune diseases and the 40 suspected autoimmune-related conditions.
Autoimmune diseases affect more women than men and they tend to run in families.
Learn your family's health histories. Record all symptoms you experience even if they seem unrelated.
Be aware that it may be hard to get an accurate diagnosis. Autoimmune diseases affect numerous body systems, and symptoms may seem unrelated, so this can make diagnosis more difficult. On top of this, the medical community in general is just not that familiar with autoimmune disease.
"A few examples of autoimmune diseases are endometriosis, multiple sclerosis, myasthenia gravis, scleroderma, polymyositis, vasculitis, lupus, Sjögren's syndrome, autoimmune thrombocytopenia, type 1 or juvenile diabetes, Crohn's disease and Graves' disease."
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