Many people ask: “Why group all autoimmune diseases together in one registry. There are over 100 autoimmune diseases, and most people have only one.”
But data show that people with one autoimmune disease often develop another autoimmune disease. And sometimes these connections are unexpected. A boy with alopecia - hair loss - regained all of his hair when he went on a gluten-free diet after discovering he had celiac disease. Also, treatments that work for one autoimmune condition are often discovered to be effective in treating another autoimmune condition.
The battle against cancer is united through a national cancer registry that collects patient information and shares resources with researchers, but autoimmune diseases have not had that benefit. We believe that an All Autoimmune Registry can help government, pharmaceutical companies, and the public understand the full impact of autoimmune diseases. With better information, we can better channel resources to study and treat all autoimmune diseases.
