• Question: Which diseases is known to be caused by a glitch in the immune system?

    Asked by Aherrera11 to Sian, Max, Lizzie, Francis, Ben on 6 Mar 2018.
    • Photo: Max Jamilly

      Max Jamilly answered on 6 Mar 2018:

      Cool question! Lots of diseases are caused by problems with the immune system. Two well-known examples are autoimmune diseases like coeliac disease, arthritis, multiple sclerosis and some kinds of diabetes. In these disease, the immune system gets confused and thinks the body’s normal cells are actually invaders, so it starts to attack the body. The second example is immunodeficiency, where the immune system is less active than it should be so some pathogens can survive inside us. Immunodeficiency can be caused by viruses like HIV, cancer or as a side effect of some medicines.

    • Photo: Ben Mulhearn

      Ben Mulhearn answered on 6 Mar 2018:

      Some diseases are caused by an OVERACTIVE immune system. One of these is type 1 diabetes, where the immune system attacks the pancreas and patients can no longer produce insulin. Another disease is rheumatoid arthritis (a disease which I look after) which is caused by immune cells attacking the joints, causing pain, swelling and stiffness. Imagine not being able to move without being in pain! These diseases are known as AUTOIMMUNE diseases. On the other hand, glitches in the immune system might cause it to be UNDER-ACTIVE, or completely absent. This makes the sufferer really susceptible to infections, and even simple infections can be deadly. These types of diseases are known as IMMUNODEFICIENCIES.

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