Autoimmune diseases can strike any part of the body and often have symptoms that are hard to connect to a specific cause at the start, according to an Associated Press explainer published Nov. 6, 2025. The story said these disorders can affect tens of millions of people and can involve the brain, though they are “mostly” seen in women.
The article described autoimmune diseases as chronic conditions that range from mild to life-threatening and include more than 100 different named diseases. It said rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis attack joints, while Sjögren’s disease is known for dry eyes and mouth. The explainer said myositis and myasthenia gravis weaken muscles in different ways—myasthenia gravis, in particular, attacks how nerves signal them.
It said lupus has widely varied symptoms, including a butterfly-shaped facial rash, joint and muscle pain, fevers, and damage to the kidneys, lungs and heart. The story added that autoimmune encephalitis can affect the brain, and it described autoimmune illness as capricious—patients can suddenly experience “flare” symptoms even after long stretches of doing well.
One reason the article gave for misdiagnosis is that many autoimmune diseases start with vague symptoms that come and go or mimic other illnesses. It said symptoms can overlap across conditions, noting rheumatoid arthritis and Sjögren’s as examples that can both harm major organs. The diagnosis process, the story said, can take multiple tests, including blood tests to detect antibodies that mistakenly latch onto healthy tissue, and it usually centers on a clinician’s evaluation of symptoms while ruling out other causes.
The AP explainer said that depending on the disease, diagnosis can take years and require seeing multiple doctors before the clues come together. It also pointed to efforts to streamline identification, including National MS Society education for doctors about newly updated guidelines for multiple sclerosis diagnosis. In addition, it said scientists have been discovering a growing list of rogue antibodies that can signal autoimmune encephalitis through symptoms that include memory loss, seizures and psychosis.
The explainer framed autoimmune diseases in terms of how the immune system distinguishes threats from “you,” describing tolerance as the key ability. It said sometimes confused immune cells or antibodies slip through, or the “peacemakers” the story described cannot calm the immune system after a battle. If the system cannot spot and fix the problem, the article said autoimmune diseases can gradually develop.
Autoimmune diseases, the article said, are often triggered not by a single gene defect but by a combination of immune-related genetic susceptibility and an environmental trigger. It cited infection, smoking and pollutants as examples of triggers, and said research is also focusing on earliest molecular events. It highlighted neutrophils as first responders to infection or injury, adding that abnormally overactive neutrophils are suspected of playing a key role in lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and other diseases.
The story said researchers have linked the Epstein-Barr virus—already known to set some people on the path to multiple sclerosis—to lupus as well. It said Stanford University researchers found that Epstein-Barr can hide in a tiny proportion of immune system B cells, and that occasionally the virus nudges certain B cells into an inflammatory state that can spur an autoimmune chain reaction. It also said the research does not explain why 95% of adults have been infected yet only a small fraction develop lupus.
Women, the explainer said, account for about 4 of 5 autoimmune patients, and it cited hormones as one suspected factor. It described a difference in sex chromosomes—females having two X chromosomes while males have one X and one Y—and said some research suggests an abnormality in how female cells switch off the extra X can increase women’s vulnerability. The article also said men do get autoimmune diseases, pointing to VEXAS syndrome, which it described as not discovered until 2020 and as mainly affecting men over 50, along with symptoms such as blood clots, shortness of breath and night sweats.
The Associated Press article further said certain groups face higher risks, with lupus described as more common in Black and Hispanic women and Northern Europeans described as having a higher risk of multiple sclerosis than other groups. It closed by describing treatment as complicated: the article said the global market for autoimmune disease treatments is $100 billion a year, according to investment research company Morningstar, and that treatment is lifelong and can be pricey even though it is usually covered by insurance. It said older approaches relied heavily on high-dose steroids and broad immune-suppressing drugs, while newer options target specific molecules and may involve somewhat less immune dampening—yet it added that for many autoimmune diseases treatment still involves trial and error, with little to guide patient decisions.
In the story, rheumatologist Dr. Amit Saxena of NYU Langone Health said, “This is probably the most exciting time that we’ve ever had to be in autoimmunity.”