There's a new frontier in treating autoimmune diseases. Today's treatments tamp down the friendly fire but don't fix what's causing it. Now in dozens of studies, scientists are testing ways to reprogram patients' out-of-whack immune systems, including with a cancer treatment called CAR-T therapy. The new approaches are highly experimental and largely restricted to patients out of other options. But early results are raising hope as some people with lupus and other hard-to-treat illnesses have gone into drug-free remission.
It's one of medicine's biggest mysteries — why sometimes our immune system attacks our own bodies. Autoimmune diseases affect as many as 50 million Americans and millions more worldwide. They're hard to diagnose and treat, and they're on the rise. A Massachusetts woman's journey with one named lupus — called the disease of 1,000 faces for its baffling variety of symptoms — offers a snapshot of the burden. Now researchers are decoding the biology behind these debilitating diseases in hopes of eventually treating the causes, not just the symptoms.
Autoimmune diseases can affect just about every part of the body – and tens of millions of people. While most common in women, these diseases can strike anyone, adults or children, and they’re on the rise. New research is raising the prospect of treatments that might do more than tamp down symptoms. Dozens of clinical trials are testing ways to reprogram immune systems, with some promising early successes against lupus, myositis and other illnesses. Other researchers are hunting ways to at least delay brewing autoimmune diseases.
Ruth Wilson doesn’t look sick yet “everywhere hurts all the time” – because her immune system is attacking her own body.