The Record Special Sections Health Quarterly 04-28-2019

NORTHJERSEY.COM ❚ SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2019 ❚ 1
PHOTO COURTESY
OF GETTY IMAGES
Collectively there
are more than 80
types of autoimmune
diseases, ranging
from rheumatoid
arthritis to multiple
sclerosis, that occur
when the body’s
natural defense
system can’t dif-
ferentiate between
its own cells and
foreign cells, causing
the body to mistak-
enly attack normal
cells. A vast major-
ity of the afflicted
are women, whose
stronger immune
systems are more
likely to attack
healthy body parts.
Health Quarterly
Gender Bias
n Living With
Depression:
Recognizing the
Symptoms,
Treatments and
Alternative
Therapies
n National
Nurses
Week:
Paying
Homage to
Time-honored
Profession
ADVERTISING
SUPPLEMENT TO
APRIL 28, 2019
Prevalence of Autoimmune Diseases
in Women Gives Rise to New Theories
By LESLIE PERLMUTTER
Special to Health Quarterly
A
utoimmune diseases affect some-
where between eight percent and
20 percent of the population, and
over 75 percent of those affected
are women. There is an increasing inci-
dence and prevalence of these diseases,
which include rheumatoid arthritis, lupus,
irritable bowel syndrome (encompassing
such conditions as ulcerative colitis and
Crohn’s Disease), multiple sclerosis, Type
1 diabetes, Graves’ Disease, Hashimoto’s
Disease, and celiac disease, to name just
a few. Chances are that you or someone
you know has or will have an autoimmune
disease now or in the foreseeable future.
Autoimmune diseases occur when the
body’s natural defense system can’t differ-
entiate between its own cells and foreign
cells, causing the body to mistakenly attack
normal cells. Collectively, there are more
than 80 types of autoimmune diseases that
affect a wide range of body parts. It is
difficult to put together comprehensive
data around autoimmune diseases because
such information is still collected individu-
ally around each disease. This also makes it
difficult to diagnose autoimmune diseases.
What are the most common symp-
toms of autoimmune diseases, and how
do you go about getting diagnosed?
Dr. Krupa Pandey, a fellowship-trained
neurologist on staff
at both Hackensack
University Medical
Center and its pres-
tigious Neuroscience
Institute, specializes in
multiple sclerosis and
neurological autoim-
mune conditions that
can affect the brain.
She lists the following Dr. Krupa Pandey
as common symptoms of autoimmune
diseases: “excessive, unexplainable fatigue,
weight changes, hair loss, changes in sen-
sory systems, joint and muscle pain, and
unexplainable fevers.”
Virginia Ladd, president, founder
and executive director of the American
Autoimmune Related Disease Association
(AARDA), notes that this group of symp-
toms presents problems in reaching a diag-
nosis: “These symptoms can mimic other
See GENDER BIAS Page 17