AS IF BEING A WOMAN ISN’T HARD ENOUGH

Ladies I am not here to further upset you, but I gotta talk about this. I looked up news on autoimmune disease and I was surprised to see articles talking about how much more likely women are in developing autoimmune diseases than men are. Researchers at the University of Michigan may have the answers we need to understand this CRUEL phenomenon. It is also known that men are more prone to infectious diseases, and this could be due to the lack of a molecular switch which controls the immune responses. Pinpointing this difference in expression of genes and its relationship to autoimmunity may create a new path towards controlling and eliminating these diseases without affecting the patient negatively in other ways.

An overabundance of the VGLL3 gene in your skin cells may be the underlying cause of more autoimmune disease in women. This gene aids in controlling and stimulating the immune response, so you can understand that a hyperactive immune response towards your own skin cells can be damaging. Gudjonsson was the mind behind this amazing discovery along with other colleagues, testing genes from human skin and noticing the overabundance in women. After noticing this they ran tests on lab mice to see how the gene affects in different amounts in both males and females. The autoimmune disease related to this disease mimics the symptoms of Lupus, another autoimmune disease. The hyperactive immune response against self cells in lupus triggers inflammation, joint pain, fatigue, edema, and even something as severe as heart and kidney damage.

Studies have been conducted to show that around 75% of the people affected by this lupus-like autoimmune disease are women. Let that number sink in for a second. 75%. Not only are we more prone to these diseases, but pregnancy can negatively effect these diseases. Hormones can also effect the current or future state of your disease. Have you no mercy immunity!!?? There is not currently a cure for most autoimmune diseases, and the drugs used to maintain a state of comfort with these diseases open your body up to be damaged by other means like cancer and infections.

Basically being a woman is already hard enough, why not pile more on by finding out a lot of things involved in your health are out of your control! LOVE THAT.