Save Laurens Heart

“…one in twelve Americans -and one in nine women -will develop an autoimmune disorder.”

- from The Autoimmune Epidemic by Donna Jackson Nakazawa

There are over 100 Autoimmune Diseases and counting.  We also consider Autoimmune-related illnesses when we look at a list like this -meaning diseases that usually overlap or occur along with autoimmune disease. In honor of National Autoimmune Disease Awareness Month here is a list of the diseases to give you an idea of the epidemic we face in America right now.  They are often hard to diagnose, there are no cures for them, and many times these diseases go undetected until a major health crisis erupts.  Very often it can take years of connecting the dots (symptoms) to reach a diagnosis.

LIST OF AUTOIMMUNE AND AUTOIMMUNE-RELATED DISEASES

• Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis (ADEM)
• Acute necrotizing hemorrhagic leukoencephalitis
• Addison’s disease
• Agammaglobulinemia
• Allergic asthma
• Allergic rhinitis
• Alopecia areata
• Amyloidosis
• Ankylosing spondylitis
• Anti-GBM/Anti-TBM nephritis
• Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS)
• Autoimmune aplastic anemia
• Autoimmune dysautonomia
• Autoimmune hepatitis
• Autoimmune hyperlipidemia
• Autoimmune immunodeficiency
• Autoimmune inner ear disease (AIED)
• Autoimmune myocarditis
• Autoimmune pancreatitis
• Autoimmune retinopathy
• Autoimmune thrombocytopenic purpura (ATP)
• Autoimmune thyroid disease
• Axonal & neuronal neuropathies
• Balo disease
• Behcet’s disease
• Bullous pemphigoid
• Cardiomyopathy
• Castleman disease
• Celiac sprue
• Chagas disease
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
• Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP)
• Chronic recurrent multifocal ostomyelitis (CRMO)
• Churg-Strauss syndrome
• Cicatricial pemphigoid/benign mucosal pemphigoid
• Crohn’s disease
• Cogans syndrome
• Cold agglutinin disease
• Congenital heart block
• Coxsackie myocarditis
• CREST disease
• Essential mixed cryoglobulinemia
• Demyelinating neuropathies
• Dermatitis herpetiformis
• Dermatomyositis
• Devic’s disease (neuromyelitis optica)
• Discoid lupus
• Dressler’s syndrome
• Endometriosis
• Eosinophilic fasciitis
• Erythema nodosum
• Experimental allergic encephalomyelitis
• Evans syndrome
• Fibromyalgia**
• Fibrosing alveolitis
• Giant cell arteritis (temporal arteritis)
• Glomerulonephritis
• Goodpasture’s syndrome
• Graves’ disease
• Guillain-Barre syndrome
• Hashimoto’s encephalitis
• Hashimoto’s thyroiditis
• Hemolytic anemia
• Henoch-Schonlein purpura
• Herpes gestationis
• Hypogammaglobulinemia
• Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP)
• IgA nephropathy
• IgG4-related sclerosing disease
• Immunoregulatory lipoproteins
• Inclusion body myositis
• Insulin-dependent diabetes (type1)
• Interstitial cystitis
• Juvenile arthritis
• Juvenile diabetes
• Kawasaki syndrome
• Lambert-Eaton syndrome
• Leukocytoclastic vasculitis
• Lichen planus
• Lichen sclerosus
• Ligneous conjunctivitis
• Linear IgA disease (LAD)
• Lupus (SLE)
• Lyme disease, chronic
• Meniere’s disease
• Microscopic polyangiitis
• Mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD)
• Mooren’s ulcer
• Mucha-Habermann disease
• Multiple sclerosis
• Myasthenia gravis
• Myositis
• Narcolepsy
• Neuromyelitis optica (Devic’s)
• Neutropenia
• Ocular cicatricial pemphigoid
• Optic neuritis
• Palindromic rheumatism
• PANDAS (Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcus)
• Paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration
• Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH)
• Parry Romberg syndrome
• Parsonnage-Turner syndrome
• Pars planitis (peripheral uveitis)
• Pemphigus
• Peripheral neuropathy
• Perivenous encephalomyelitis
• Pernicious anemia
• POEMS syndrome
• Polyarteritis nodosa
• Type I, II, & III autoimmune polyglandular syndromes
• Polymyalgia rheumatica
• Polymyositis
• Postmyocardial infarction syndrome
• Postpericardiotomy syndrome
• Progesterone dermatitis
• Primary biliary cirrhosis
• Primary sclerosing cholangitis
• Psoriasis
• Psoriatic arthritis
• Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis
• Pyoderma gangrenosum
• Pure red cell aplasia
• Raynauds phenomenon
• Reflex sympathetic dystrophy
• Reiter’s syndrome
• Relapsing polychondritis
• Restless legs syndrome
• Retroperitoneal Fibrosis
• Rheumatic fever
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Sarcoidosis
• Schmidt syndrome
• Scleritis
• Scleroderma
• Sjogren’s syndrome
• Sperm & testicular autoimmunity
• Stiff person syndrome
• Subacute bacterial endocarditis (SBE)
• Susac’s syndrome
• Sympathetic ophthalmia
• Takayasu’s arteritis
• Temporal arteritis/Giant cell arteritis
• Thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP)
• Tolosa-Hunt syndrome
• Transverse myelitis
• Ulcerative colitis
• Undifferentiated connective tissue disease (UCTD)
• Uveitis
• Vasculitis
• Vesiculobullous dermatosis
• Vitiligo
• Wegener’s granulomatosis

(list taken from the AARDA)

I highlighted the ones I am / have been diagnosed with.