Autoimmune endocrine failure syndromes may
include diabetes and other endocrine and non-endocrine problems.
Any of them can show up, in any order, in any member of
an affected family.
The syndrome of multiple endocrine organ involvement (and other organs that don't have hormones, like the skin) is called by several names, including:
- autoimmune endocrine failure syndrome,
- autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome,
- autoimmune polyglandular syndrome, and
- immunoendocrinopathy syndrome.
This syndrome might include any or most of the following disorders:
- type 1
or autoimmune (1) Diabetes
- Vitiligo (white patches on the skin that lack pigmentation)
- premature menopause
- Addison's disease (adrenal gland failure)
- Pernicious Anemia
- Hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid gland),
hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid gland function),
and thyroiditis (inflammation of the thyroid gland).
- Alopecia Totalis (loss of body hair)
- Parathyroid gland failure
- Pituitary gland failure
- Candidia infections of the skin and mucus membranes
Two varieties of the syndrome have been described:
Type I
- Type 1 Diabetes
- Vitiligo
- premature menopause
- Addison's disease
- Pernicious Anemia
- Hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, and thyroiditis
- Parathyroid gland failure
- Alopecia
- Pituitary gland failure
- Candidia infections of the skin and mucus membranes
- Malabsorption syndrome
- Chronic Active Hepatitis
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Type II
- Type 1 Diabetes
- Vitiligo
- premature menopause
- Addison's disease
- Pernicious Anemia
- Hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, and thyroiditis
- Parathyroid gland failure
- Alopecia
- Myasthenia gravis
- Parkinson disease
- Celiac disease
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If someone has several of these conditions,
or if one member of a family has one of these conditions, and another family member has another,
it's
very likely that they may have antibodies (2)
against other endocrine tissues. (And, if a biopsy of affected tissue
were obtained, it will show lymphocytic infiltration (3).)
What to do?
If you, or a family member, has several of these conditions, there's no specific therapy that's different
than if you had only one of them.
There are, however, several points to be made:
- You and your physician should watch for
the possibility of developing another of the disorders.
- You and your family should be aware of
the possibility of developing any of the disorders in any family member.
- Antibody levels could be measured for several of the disorders: thyroid antibodies
are the most commonly available.
Definitions:
(1)
Autoimmune:
Disorders of the body's immune system in which the immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys body tissue that it believes to be
foreign. (Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks and destroys the insulin-producing beta cells.)
(2)
Antibody:
Proteins that the body makes to protect itself from foreign substances. Occasionally, the body also makes proteins against normal parts
of the body. These proteins are called autoantibodies.
(3)
Lymphocytic infiltration:
The presence of specialized antiinflammatory cells called lymphocytes,
found on micoscopic analysis of biopsy tissue.
Schmidt's syndrome: coexistence of adrenal gland failure and hypothyroidism
Also see
Other webpages about
autoimmune disorders
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