Autoimmune disease in the context of "Immunodeficiency"

Fatigue is a state of being without energy for a prolonged period of time. Fatigue is used in two contexts: in the medical sense, and in the sense of normal tiredness.

In the medical sense, fatigue is seen as a symptom, and is sometimes associated with medical conditions including autoimmune disease, organ failure, chronic pain conditions, mood disorders, heart disease, infectious diseases, and post-infectious-disease states. However, fatigue is complex and in up to a third of primary care cases no medical or psychiatric diagnosis is found.

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is one of the two types of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), with the other type being Crohn's disease. It is a long-term condition that results in inflammation and ulcers of the colon and rectum. The primary symptoms of active disease are abdominal pain and diarrhea mixed with blood (hematochezia). Weight loss, fever, and anemia may also occur. Often, symptoms come on slowly and can range from mild to severe. Symptoms typically occur intermittently with periods of no symptoms between flares. Complications may include abnormal dilation of the colon (megacolon), inflammation of the eye, joints, or liver, and colon cancer.

The cause of UC is unknown. Theories involve immune system dysfunction, genetics, changes in the normal gut bacteria, and environmental factors. Rates tend to be higher in the developed world with some proposing this to be the result of less exposure to intestinal infections, or to a Western diet and lifestyle. The removal of the appendix at an early age may be protective. Diagnosis is typically by colonoscopy, a type of endoscopy, with tissue biopsies.

A chronic condition (also known as chronic disease or chronic illness) is a health condition or disease that is persistent or otherwise long-lasting in its effects or a disease that comes with time. The term chronic is often applied when the course of the disease lasts for more than three months.

Common chronic diseases include diabetes, functional gastrointestinal disorder, eczema, arthritis, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, autoimmune diseases, genetic disorders and some viral diseases such as hepatitis C and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

The Epstein–Barr virus (EBV), also known as human herpesvirus 4 (HHV-4), is one of the nine known human herpesvirus types in the herpes family, and is one of the most common viruses in humans. EBV is a double-stranded DNA virus. EBV is the first identified oncogenic virus, a virus that can cause cancer. EBV establishes a permanent infection in human B cells. It uncommonly causes infectious mononucleosis and is also tightly linked to many malignant diseases (cancers and autoimmune diseases). Various vaccine formulations have been tested in humans and other animals; however, none of them were able to prevent EBV infection, thus, no vaccine has been approved to date.

Infectious mononucleosis ("mono" or "glandular fever"), is characterized by extreme fatigue, fever, sore throat, and swollen lymph nodes. EBV is also associated with various non-malignant, premalignant, and malignant EBV-associated lymphoproliferative diseases such as Burkitt lymphoma, hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, and Hodgkin's lymphoma; non-lymphoid malignancies such as gastric cancer and nasopharyngeal carcinoma; and conditions associated with human immunodeficiency virus such as hairy leukoplakia and central nervous system lymphomas. The virus is also associated with the childhood disorders of Alice in Wonderland syndrome and acute cerebellar ataxia and, by some evidence, higher risks of developing certain autoimmune diseases, especially dermatomyositis, systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, and Sjögren's syndrome. About 200,000 cancer cases globally per year are thought to be attributable to EBV. In 2022, a large study following 10 million active US military over 20 years suggested EBV as the leading cause of multiple sclerosis (MS), with a recent EBV infection causing a 32-fold increase in MS risk development.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelin which is the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to transmit signals, resulting in a range of signs and symptoms, including physical, mental, and sometimes psychiatric problems. Symptoms include double vision, vision loss, eye pain, muscle weakness, and loss of sensation or coordination.

A non-communicable disease (NCD) is a disease that is not transmissible directly from one person to another. NCDs include Parkinson's disease, autoimmune diseases, strokes, heart diseases, cancers, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, Alzheimer's disease, cataracts, and others. NCDs may be chronic or acute. Most are non-infectious, although there are some non-communicable infectious diseases, such as parasitic diseases in which the parasite's life cycle does not include direct host-to-host transmission.

The four main NCDs that are the leading causes of death globally are cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, and diabetes. NCDs account for seven out of the ten leading causes of death worldwide. Figures given for 2019 are 41 million deaths due to NCDs worldwide. Of these 17.9 million were due to cardiovascular disease; 9.3 million due to cancer; 4.1 million to chronic respiratory diseases, and 2.0 million to diabetes. Over 80% of the deaths from these four groups were premature, not reaching the age of 70.

Immunology is a branch of biology and medicine that covers the study of immune systems in all organisms.

Immunology charts, measures, and contextualizes the physiological functioning of the immune system in states of both health and diseases; malfunctions of the immune system in immunological disorders (such as autoimmune diseases, hypersensitivities, immune deficiency, and transplant rejection); and the physical, chemical, and physiological characteristics of the components of the immune system in vitro, in situ, and in vivo. Immunology has applications in numerous disciplines of medicine, particularly in the fields of organ transplantation, oncology, rheumatology, virology, bacteriology, parasitology, psychiatry, and dermatology.