FOCUS AREAS
AUTO IMMUNE DISEASES
What Are Autoimmune Disorders?
Autoimmune diseases develop from persistent activation of the immune system and manifest in localized and/or disseminated signs and symptoms throughout the body.
Auto Immune
Diseases
-
Rheumatoid arthritis
-
Systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus)
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Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)
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Multiple sclerosis (MS)
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Type 1 diabetes mellitus
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Guillain-Barre syndrome
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Psoriasis
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Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy
Autoimmune diseases exhibit a diverse pathology affecting multiple organ systems, which can lead to widespread damage that is often irreversible.
Four well-studied inflammatory diseases that affect different organ systems include:
$35B
per year in direct costs
-
Multiple sclerosis
(MS)
-
Ulcerative Colitis
(UC)
-
Rheumatoid arthritis
(RA)
-
Crohn’s disease
(CD)
$4M
people
These four diseases alone represent over four million people in the US and cost the healthcare system an aggregated total of over $35 billion per year in direct costs.
The analysis of the financial impact of autoimmune diseases on the healthcare system found that there were four critical cost factors that influence spending:
Managing treatment costs
Controlling disease progression
Promoting treatment adherence
Avoiding high-cost events