An Autoimmune Disease is a medical condition characterized by a mistaken function of the immune system that starts to attacks cells of the body itself, which are gradually not recognized as its own, but as foreign.
Under normal circumstances the immune system protects the human body from harmful microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, parasites and viruses. As soon as one of these microorganisms is detected by the immune system, several specific and complicated defensive mechanisms are set in motion in order to repel the potential threat. However, in some cases, our body mistakenly perceives some of its own cells as foreign and attacks them by producing antibodies (autoantibodies). More than 80 diseases are recorded formally as the result of such an Immune System attack.
According to the AARDA (American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association), more than fifty million Americans suffer from an Autoimmune Disease. Statistics in Europe are similar, with a recorded sharp increase of Autoimmune Diseases during the last fifteen years.