In spite of their wide prevalence and the number of people they affect every year, the exact cause of an autoimmune disorder is not known. This can be attributed, in part, to the fact that we are only just making progress in understanding our immune system better now- the identification of the role of gut bacteria in immunity is still novel and hotly debated. It is thus plausible that we do not understand every condition that affects the immune system.

● Genetic causes: In prone people, it is believed that some genes make their immune system more active, and the system can then make no distinction between foreign cells and our own.
● Environmental causes: Another theory stimulates that exposure to certain bacteria and viruses can confuse the immune system. This theory holds more weight as some pathogens are known to reproduce using portions of the host DNA, meaning that the immune system has more trouble distinguishing between foreign cells and our cells.

Genetic changes between women and men mean that women produce more antibodies and T-helper 2 related responses to infection than men, whose bodies react more with inflammation. Most autoimmune disorders are antibody-mediated responses, meaning that antibodies produced in the body go on to attack the body’s cells and destroy them. 

The few autoimmune disorders that do occur in men are characterized instead by inflammation and are mediated by a different set of cells called the T-helper 1 cells.

Here are some risk factors that increase your chances of developing an autoimmune disorder.

● Being a woman
● Being under fifty years of age
● Being African American, Indian and Latino
● Family history of autoimmune disorders
● Use of medication such as procainamide used to treat cardiac arrhythmia
● Exposure to metals such as mercury, or heavy metals like lead
● (Probably) infections. For example, infection by the Measles virus may increase risk of developing Multiple Sclerosis