Experts know about 100 different diseases in which the immune system is wrong. They can attack organs or individual tissues, but can also spread to the whole body. An overview.
Constanze Loeffler
Autoimmune diseases destroy the body’s own cells and tissues. Virtually any organ can be affected: kidneys, lungs, heart or brain, for example. The inflammation and tissue damage that occurs causes pain, deforms joints, leads to jaundice, itching or difficulty breathing. Medicine distinguishes between diseases that are limited to a specific organ and those that cause damage throughout the body.