What are some autoimmune diseases in children?

What types of autoimmune disease affect children?

  • Addison’s disease affects the adrenal glands.
  • autoimmune hepatitis affects the liver.
  • Crohn’s disease affects the gastrointestinal tract.
  • multiple sclerosis (MS) affects the central nervous system.
  • type 1 diabetes affects the pancreas.

What is the most common autoimmune disease in children?

Some of the more common pediatric autoimmune diseases include type-1 diabetes, juvenile arthritis, lupus and celiac disease, as indicated above.

What are examples of immunological disorders?

Three common autoimmune diseases are:

  • Type 1 diabetes. The immune system attacks the cells in the pancreas that make insulin.
  • Rheumatoid arthritis. This type of arthritis causes swelling and deformities of the joints.
  • Lupus. This disease that attacks body tissues, including the lungs, kidneys, and skin.

How do I know if my child has an immune disorder?

Symptoms

  • Frequent and recurrent pneumonia, bronchitis, sinus infections, ear infections, meningitis or skin infections.
  • Inflammation and infection of internal organs.
  • Blood disorders, such as low platelet count or anemia.
  • Digestive problems, such as cramping, loss of appetite, nausea and diarrhea.

What are the 7 autoimmune diseases?

Common autoimmune disorders include:

  • Addison disease.
  • Celiac disease – sprue (gluten-sensitive enteropathy)
  • Dermatomyositis.
  • Graves disease.
  • Hashimoto thyroiditis.
  • Multiple sclerosis.
  • Myasthenia gravis.
  • Pernicious anemia.

What are the 3 most common autoimmune diseases?

Common ones include lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Autoimmune diseases can affect many types of tissues and nearly any organ in your body.

Can a child get autoimmune disease?

Autoimmune (rheumatic) diseases occur when your immune system starts to attack your body’s healthy cells, tissues and organs. Although autoimmune disease is rare in children, many conditions have similar symptoms and diagnosis can be challenging.

What are 5 common symptoms of an autoimmune disorder?

Common symptoms of autoimmune disease include:

  • Fatigue.
  • Joint pain and swelling.
  • Skin problems.
  • Abdominal pain or digestive issues.
  • Recurring fever.
  • Swollen glands.

How do you test a child’s immune system?

Blood tests.

Blood tests can determine if you have typical levels of infection-fighting proteins (immunoglobulins) in your blood and measure the levels of blood cells and immune system cells. Having numbers of certain cells in your blood that are outside of the standard range can indicate an immune system defect.

What causes weak immune system in kids?

Your child’s immune system can be temporarily weakened by certain drugs, such as chemotherapy or other drugs used to treat cancer, or medication to prevent organ rejection following transplant. Also, infections like the flu virus, mononucleosis (mono) and measles can weaken the immune system for a brief time.

What can weaken a child’s immune system?

Also, infections such as the flu virus, mono (mononucleosis), and measles can weaken the immune system for a short time. Your immune system can also be weakened by smoking, alcohol, and poor nutrition.

What is lupus in a child?

What is lupus? Systemic lupus erythematosus, also known as SLE, or simply lupus, is a disease characterized by inflammation of — and damage to — the organs, skin and joints. The kidneys, heart, lungs and brain are the organs most commonly affected. Lupus affects each child and adult differently.

Why does my 5 year old always get sick?

Most children start to get colds after about six months of age. This is when the immunity they received from their mom fades. After that, they have to build up their own immune system. Babies, toddlers, and preschoolers may get as many as seven to eight colds a year!

What is the root cause of autoimmune disorders?

The exact cause of autoimmune disorders is unknown. One theory is that some microorganisms (such as bacteria or viruses) or drugs may trigger changes that confuse the immune system. This may happen more often in people who have genes that make them more prone to autoimmune disorders.

What are the top 5 signs of lupus?

The most common signs and symptoms include:

  • Fatigue.
  • Fever.
  • Joint pain, stiffness and swelling.
  • Butterfly-shaped rash on the face that covers the cheeks and bridge of the nose or rashes elsewhere on the body.
  • Skin lesions that appear or worsen with sun exposure.

Can a 5 year old get lupus?

According to the American College of Rheumatology, about 20% of people with lupus develop the disease before 20 years of age, although it is rare to get lupus before age 5. People with lupus can have times when the disease is very active, called a flare, and times when the disease is mostly quiet, called remission.

Is it normal for a child to get sick every month?

Frequent illness is a normal part of childhood – in fact, it’s perfectly normal for your child to come down with respiratory and/or stomach bugs six to eight times each year!

How do I boost my child’s immune system?

Boosting your child’s immune system

  1. Give them a healthy diet.
  2. Make sure they get enough sleep.
  3. Get them active.
  4. Manage stress.
  5. Make sure they are up to date on important vaccines.
  6. Don’t forget the simple precautions.

What is the first stage of lupus?

Joint and muscle pain is often the first sign of lupus. This pain tends to occur on both sides of the body at the same time, particularly in the joints of the wrists, hands, fingers, and knees. The joints may look inflamed and feel warm to the touch.

What age do lupus symptoms start?

Although lupus affects people of all ages, it’s most often diagnosed between the ages of 15 and 45.

What does lupus look like in children?

Signs and symptoms of lupus
Malar rash — a rash shaped like a butterfly that is usually found on the bridge of the nose and the cheeks. Discoid rash — a raised rash found on the head, arms, chest or back. Fever. Joint stiffness, pain and swelling.

What does a positive ANA test mean in a child?

What is an ANA test? An antinuclear antibody (ANA) test looks for antinuclear antibodies in your child’s blood. If your child tests positive for ANAs, it may mean they have an autoimmune disease. An autoimmune disease causes your child’s immune system to attack their own cells, tissues and organs by mistake.

Why does my child always get sick?

Kids’ immune systems are uniquely designed to identify and respond to new infections and exposures. They’re constantly being exposed to new things. That’s one way the immune system is trained. So certainly, what you’re exposed to earlier on will train your immune system to recognize what’s dangerous and what isn’t.

What causes a child to have a low immune system?

Why does my child keep getting sick?

The main reason your child is getting all those infections is that he or she is being exposed to new viruses all the time. The viruses are everywhere no matter how much you sanitize and clean. There are at least 200 different cold viruses and they’re getting tricky, mutating all the time.