Patient with a wolf on his face. Photo: Shutterstock. In developing the Interdisciplinary Symposium on Systemic Autoimmune Diseases (SAS), it focused on understanding the problems and challenges that still exist today and how to improve both the management and the impact on the quality of life of all people suffering from them. . With the participation of the Dermatological and Venereological Association (AEDB) among other associations, they provided important information. What are systemic autoimmune diseases? As the AEDV rightly puts it, “these are pathologies that affect different organs and systems of the body, requiring the cooperation of different specialists to manage the people who suffer from them.” Because its cause is usually unknown, early diagnoses are usually wrong and this is what makes the diagnosis almost always delayed. What all systemic autoimmune diseases have in common is that there is an immune system failure that causes this attack on the cells and tissues of the body itself. An inadequate, worrying response that makes patients have to visit several specialists before they can receive an adequate diagnosis of the disease they suffer from, according to what was published in 20 Minutes of Spain. Types of systemic autoimmune diseases There are several types of systemic autoimmune diseases. One of them is lupus erythematosus where it can affect the skin, joints, kidneys and brain. Scleroderma is another disease that will fall into this group which causes excessive collagen production which can even cause deformities in the body and skin. Other systemic autoimmune diseases would be vasculitis (inflammation of the blood vessels), Sjögren’s syndrome (destruction of salivary glands that produce saliva and tears) or myositis (inflammation of the muscles). In all of this, the immune system attacks the body itself, causing these kinds of consequences that affect daily life. The biggest challenge: early diagnosis According to Dr. “Systemic Autoimmune Diseases (SAS) are more common in women (1-3 men for every 7-9 women) and usually occur at a young age,” said Germán Peces-Barba, vice president of pulmonology at the Spanish Society of Pulmonary and Thoracic Surgery (SEPAR). The lack of knowledge of the causes of these diseases and the diversity of their symptoms make their diagnosis difficult. For example, a person with systemic lupus erythematosus may develop anemia and hair loss that may be confused with poor nutrition or other pathology. The same can happen with other autoimmune diseases and the diagnosis can be delayed for up to 1 year. This is serious. Dr. Marcos López Hoyos, president of the Spanish Society of Immunology (SEI), points out that these are “potentially deadly diseases that have a cure. However, if this treatment is applied late, they can cause irreversible damage to any organ or tissue and, consequently, follow-up or serious complications of the disease. This must be taken into account. What are the expectations? The efforts made for systemic autoimmune diseases are encouraging. What is being promoted is much more comprehensive training, so that primary care physicians can refer a patient to a specialist without delay if they suspect that he or she may have a systemic autoimmune disease. Similarly, the approach to these diseases should always be done jointly by different specialties. This way, the treatment will be complete and the diseases will be prevented from causing damage to the internal organs that could be really serious. There is still a need to give more visibility to these diseases whose prevalence is so low that it makes them unknown.
