Autoimmune disorders are when your body thinks something friendly is actually an enemy and attacks it.
Imagine you have a superhero body that normally protects you from germs and sickness. But sometimes, this superhero gets confused and starts fighting against things it shouldn’t, like your own skin, joints, or even blood cells.
Like a Misfiring Alarm
Think of it like a doorbell that rings when someone knocks, but one day it starts ringing when no one is there. Your body’s alarm system (the immune system) is going off at the wrong times, causing trouble inside you.
For example, in rheumatoid arthritis, your immune system attacks the joints, making them red and sore, like when you bump your knee and it swells up, but this time it happens all by itself.
A Body That Doesn’t Know What’s Friendly Anymore
Sometimes, the superhero body forgets who its friends are. It might attack your thyroid, skin, or even your brain, causing different kinds of problems in each case.
It's like having a friend who suddenly starts arguing with you for no reason, and it keeps happening over and over again!
Examples
- Your body thinks its own joints are invaders and starts attacking them, like in rheumatoid arthritis.
- Your immune cells attack your thyroid, making it work too hard or not enough, that's Hashimoto’s disease.
Ask a question
See also
- What is immunodeficiency?
- What are combination vaccines?
- What is immunology?
- How do vaccines work? - Kelwalin Dhanasarnsombut?
- Are new mRNA vaccines effective against emerging variants?