{"id":19044,"date":"2019-01-03T10:53:08","date_gmt":"2019-01-03T10:53:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/strammer.com\/?p=19044"},"modified":"2019-01-03T10:53:08","modified_gmt":"2019-01-03T10:53:08","slug":"gender-differences-in-autoimmunity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/strammer.com\/en\/gender-differences-in-autoimmunity\/","title":{"rendered":"Women Are More Exposed to Autoimmune Diseases Than Men"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"fusion-fullwidth fullwidth-box fusion-fullwidth-1  fusion-parallax-none nonhundred-percent-fullwidth\" style=\"border-bottom-width: 0px;border-top-width: 0px;border-bottom-style: solid;border-top-style: solid;padding-bottom:20px;padding-top:20px;padding-left:;padding-right:;\"><style type=\"text\/css\" scoped=\"scoped\">.fusion-fullwidth-1 {\r\n                            padding-left: px !important;\r\n                            padding-right: px !important;\r\n                        }<\/style><div class=\"fusion-row\"><div class=\"fusion-title title fusion-title-center fusion-title-size-one\" style=\"margin-bottom:20px;\"><div class=\"title-sep-container title-sep-container-left\"><div class=\"title-sep sep-\" style=\"border-color:#a36160;\"><\/div><\/div><h1 class=\"title-heading-center\"><span style=\"color: #a36160;\">Gender Differences in Autoimmunity<\/span><\/h1><div class=\"title-sep-container title-sep-container-right\"><div class=\"title-sep sep-\" style=\"border-color:#a36160;\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-sep-clear\"><\/div><div class=\"fusion-separator fusion-full-width-sep sep-none\" style=\"margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;margin-top:;\"><\/div><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Women are generally<strong> healthier and have a longer lifespan<\/strong> than men. However, 80% of people with autoimmune diseases are usually women of <strong>childbearing age<\/strong> and it is among the l<strong>eading causes of disability and death<\/strong>. New data is now being presented for possible reasons behind gender differences in the occurrence of autoimmunity. This information will be significant for the treatment and <strong>prevention of the diseases<\/strong> in the future.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">An autoimmune disease is a condition where the immune system starts to <strong>mistakenly attack its own body and tissues<\/strong> the same way it would if the cells were of a foreign invader (bacteria, virus etc). The diseases included are: Hashimoto\u2019s thyroiditis, Grave\u2019s disease, Multiple sclerosis (MS), Myasthenia gravis, Systematic lupus erythematosus (lupus) and Rheumatoid arthritis.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It is still not exactly clear why autoimmune diseases are more prevalent in women but there are some theories. Some researchers believe the gender differences in immunity. Thanks to having a \u201c<strong>super immunity<\/strong>\u201d, they are less likely to have an infection and have a much better antibody response to foreign invaders. However, there is a belief that because women\u2019s immune systems are more sophisticated than men\u2019s, they have an increased risk of developing an autoimmune disease. Inflammation plays a major role in autoimmunity and women have<strong> stronger inflammatory responses<\/strong> when their immune systems are triggered.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Autoimmunity can also be attributabed to the <strong>genetic susceptibility<\/strong>. Researchers have suggested this is partly due to the higher prevalence of the <strong>X chromosome<\/strong> (which has many genes relating to the immune system) contrary to <strong>men\u2019s X and Y chromosome<\/strong>. There is some evidence indicating defects in the X chromosome might be related to susceptibility to certain autoimmune diseases.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Furthermore, there is suggestions that women are of <strong>higher risk due to hormonal differences<\/strong>. Oestrogen stimulate, and androgens protect against autoimmunity. Many autoimmune disorders begin after puberty and change during pregnancy: they tend to improve and break out along with female hormonal variations. For instance: with the<strong> menstrual cycle<\/strong>,<strong> during pregnancy<\/strong> or when using <strong>oral contraceptives<\/strong>. There is evidence stating that years after a woman\u2019s pregnancy, <strong>foetal cells can remain in the body<\/strong> which may worsen or develop a disorder.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">With the goal to <strong>treat<\/strong>, <strong>prevent<\/strong> and <strong>even cure some of these diseases<\/strong>, researchers are trying to figure out why women are more susceptible to autoimmune diseases. With future studies of the X-chromosome, this may identify new genes and provide further information of the complex mechanisms of <strong>autoimmunity development<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fusion-sep-clear\"><\/div><div class=\"fusion-separator fusion-full-width-sep sep-none\" style=\"margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;margin-top:;\"><\/div><p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: 10pt; text-decoration: underline;\">References<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: 10pt;\">Tidsskfriftet. (<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/tidsskriftet.no\/en\/2017\/06\/kronikk\/why-are-autoimmune-diseases-more-prevalent-women\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/tidsskriftet.no\/en\/2017\/06\/kronikk\/why-are-autoimmune-diseases-more-prevalent-women<\/a>). June 14, 2017. Karen Helene \u00d8rstavik. Why are autoimmune diseases more prevalent in women.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: 10pt;\">Everyday Health. (<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.everydayhealth.com\/autoimmune-disorders\/understanding\/women-and-autoimmune-diseases.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.everydayhealth.com\/autoimmune-disorders\/understanding\/women-and-autoimmune-diseases.aspx<\/a>). December 12, 2012. Krisha McCoy. Women and Autoimmune Disorders.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: 10pt;\">Women\u2019s Health Research Institute. (<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.womenshealth.northwestern.edu\/blog\/autoimmune-diseases-and-women\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.womenshealth.northwestern.edu\/blog\/autoimmune-diseases-and-women<\/a>). Autoimmune Diseases and Women.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":19045,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","myguten_meta_block_field":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[98],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/strammer.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/strammer.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/strammer.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/strammer.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/strammer.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/strammer.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19044\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/strammer.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/strammer.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/strammer.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/strammer.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}