Disease Monitoring Parameters for Autoimmune Diseases

Autoimmune diseases are complex chronic multisystem disorders that are potentially life threatening. The etiology of autoimmune diseases is not known but genetic, hormonal, and environmental factors are found to be involved in their pathogenesis. The clinical course is usually very long and patients have circulating autoantibodies in their serum before the appearance of clinical signs and symptoms. Seventy-five percent of the autoimmune diseases occur in women and it is one of the top ten causes of death in women below the age of 65 years. Many women may possess irregular non-specific symptoms such fatigue, muscle pain, and joint pain because of the genes and may or may not progress to one or the other symptomatic autoimmune diseases leading to severe complications including organ failure and death. Increased death rates in women because of autoimmune diseases have been recently reported in the US and UK. Researchers have also reported a steep rise in economic burden due to autoimmune diseases. Early diagnosis of the autoimmune diseases may play an important role in modifying the course of disease progression. Following up of patients with autoimmune diseases on a regular basis with available prognostic tests will greatly reduce morbidity and possibly mortality in these patients. In this comprehensive review article, we have summarized available prognostic strategies and recommendations for common autoimmune disorders.