Autoimmune and Systemic Diseases

Autoimmune diseases are a very diverse group of diseases that have in common an imbalance of the defensive (immune) system of the organism, so that instead of “defending” ourselves from external aggressions (viruses, bacteria, fungi, parasites), it causes damage to the person itself, recognizing some components of their organs as strange or dangerous, and therefore, attacking them.

Depending on where these “self-injuries” occur, inflammation will arise, and with it different physical signs or symptoms. These symptoms will define, along with specific analytical markers, imaging tests and sometimes biopsies, the autoimmune disease that we are facing.

More frequent

The most frequent autoimmune diseases are vasculitis (vascular inflammation), that affect mainly the skin, but also very vascularized internal organs (kidney), and connectivopathies (inflammation of the connective or cartilaginous tissue), which greatly affect the joints, but also the dermis and organs with high connective tissue content (kidney, heart, lungs, digestive system).

Dr. Julio Molina

Head of the Autoimmune and Systemic Diseases Unit of our medical team

The most frequent and known autoimmune diseases and connectivopathies are Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Temporal Arteritis or Scleroderma. The variability in the clinical presentation, with the simultaneous involvement of several organs or systems, as well as its slow and insidious onset, sometimes for months and years, make the diagnosis especially difficult, and they classically are diseases that are investigated and treated by the internist.