What is Autoimmune Inflammatory Vasculitis?

Harold Ramis, the Hollywood filmmaker with classics like “Groundhog Day” and “Ghostbusters” died of Autoimmune Inflammatory Vasculitis at the age of 69.

What are Autoimmune diseases?

Autoimmune diseases are a class of disease that occur when our body’s immune system which is our body’s defence mechanism attacks its own healthy tissues. This happens when the immune system gets confused between an intruder and its own tissues. Different types of auto-immune diseases occur depending on the types of tissues attacked by the immune system.

A typical intruder may take one or more of the following forms:

• Vaccines
• Transplanted organs
• Cancer cells
• Viruses
• Bacteria
• Chemicals

A person may also contract the disease because of his/her genetic predisposition. There are more than 80 types of auto-immune diseases with a huge variety of symptoms. Some of the symptoms overlap between diseases making diagnosis harder

What is Autoimmune Inflammatory Vasculitis?

Autoimmune Inflammatory Vasculitis is an auto-immune disorder where the immune system attacks the blood vessels and makes them thinner. This results in the blood vessels carrying less blood around. Depending on the location of the blood vessels, organs in the vicinity may get damaged due to reduced blood flow.

What are the symptoms?

Symptoms in case of autoimmune inflammatory vasculitis vary depending on the organ that is affected. A person may also be asymptomatic for a long time.

What are the tests?

In case of autoimmune diseases, since the body produces antibodies to attack its own tissues, diagnostic tests revolve around identifying the antibody one’s body is producing. This includes, but is not limited to ESR (Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate) that measures the inflammation in the body and Blood Count (CBC) that measures the red and white blood cells in the body.

How are they treated?

Autoimmune diseases cannot be cured. Treatment involves palliative care that involves steroids and immunosuppressive agents. Immunosuppressive agents may make the person prone to more infections, though.