Autoimmune diseases

What is an autoimmune disease?

If you have an overactive immune system, this can cause an autoimmune disease.

There are roughly 80 autoimmune diseases that doctors are aware of. For example:

• type I diabetes
• rheumatoid arthritis
• lupus.

But there are also autoimmune diseases and disorders which specifcally affect the blood. For example:

Autoimmune haemolytic anaemia

This is when your immune system attacks healthy red blood cells. It is slightly more common in women than in men.

Autoimmune neutropenia

This is when your immune system attacks certain white blood cells that fight infection. It is more common in children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years.

Not all autoimmune diseases are blood disorders, and not all blood disorders are autoimmune diseases.

Treatments for autoimmune diseases

As there is a huge range of symptoms and types of autoimmune diseases, the treatments depend on your diagnosis and severity. Doctors might offer different types of medications and steroids.

Sometimes, doctors can give you stem cell treatments. Not all autoimmune diseases can be treated with stem cells, but they can help conditions like systemic sclerosis and multiple sclerosis (MS).

For autoimmune diseases related to blood disorders, doctors might use stem cells as an alternative treatment if:

• they haven’t had any success with other treatments they’ve tried
• or your condition is becoming unmanageable, in terms of your experience of pain and dealing with symptoms.

If doctors offer stem cell treatment, it will most likely be an autologous stem cell transplant – this means using your own stem cells. In rare cases, they might try an allogeneic transplant to treat certain autoimmune diseases. This is when someone else donates their stem cells to you.

Where to find support for autoimmune diseases

Anthony Nolan supports people with all sorts of conditions that might use stem cells or cell therapies for treatment. But other organisations support people affected by specific autoimmune diseases, including those which affect the blood.

To find out more about symptoms, diagnosis and treatments for autoimmune diseases, you can visit:

• ASA Foundation: Autoimmune Support & Awareness Foundation
• The Autoimmune Association
• The National Neutropenia Network
• NHS –
  • Lupus
  • Type 1 diabetes
  • Rheumatoid arthritis
  • Systemic sclerosis
  • multiple sclerosis

To find advice and support for living with an autoimmune disease, you can visit:

• The Wren Project
• Anthony Nolan Patients and Families Forum