Autoimmune disease

Autoimmune disease is when the body's immune system attacks its own body. The function of the immune system is to recognise and reject foreign bodies like bacteria. Sometimes the system goes wrong, and the body itself gets damaged by its immune system. Examples are:

Crohn's disease
Graves' disease
Type 1 diabetes
Multiple sclerosis
Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (also called juvenile idiopathic arthritis)
Coeliac disease
Myasthenia gravis