Autoimmune Diseases: Feeling This In your Hands Could Be A Warning Sign

With more than 50 million people diagnosed, autoimmune diseases are a major health crisis in the U.S. currently. About three decades ago, it was quite uncommon affecting only one in 400 individuals. The recent estimates also highlight that autoimmune diseases are more common in women than men. 80% of autoimmune disorder patients are women who suffer from one of these disorders including celiac disease, grave’s disease, type 1 diabetes, or alopecia.

Autoimmune diseases are a leading cause of death and disability worldwide. While some of them are rare, those such as Hashimoto’s disease affect a large number of people. There are 80 different autoimmune diseases and it is important to watch out for warning signs and get treated at the earliest.

Warning Sign of Autoimmune disease in the hands: Numbness and tingling sensation

Tingling sensation or numbness in your hands could be due to an autoimmune disease such as lupus, celiac disease or rheumatoid arthritis where an individual’s own immune system attacks the protecting covering of the nerves. You might feel numbness or tingling sensations in the arms, legs, and face if it is multiple sclerosis.

Other early symptoms of most autoimmune diseases include fatigue, low-grade fever, hair loss, weight loss, swelling, redness, difficulty concentrating, skin rashes and muscle aches. Symptoms might come and go over time and sometimes the symptoms might flare-up. And in certain individual autoimmune diseases, it can exhibit some unique symptoms. For instance, type 1 diabetes causes extreme thirst, fatigue and weight loss, whereas celiac disease can cause symptoms like diarrhea or abdominal pain.

While the exact cause of autoimmune diseases is unknown, certain individuals are more likely to acquire one than the rest. Individuals of a certain ethnicity are more likely to get a certain autoimmune disease compared to others. For instance, Lupus is more common among Hispanics and African-Americans compared to Caucasians.

There are no particular tests to diagnose autoimmune diseases. Healthcare providers use a combination of tests and review the symptoms and conduct a physical examination to diagnose an autoimmune disease. An antinuclear antibody test is often the primary test most physicians use when they doubt an autoimmune disease. If you test positive in the test, it could indicate the presence of an autoimmune test but not confirm which one it is. In order to find out the disease specifically, you might need to undergo tests that look for specific autoantibodies.