Inflammatory and systemic autoimmune diseases are highly prevalent in the general population, being considered very frequent pathologies. According to epidemiological studies, more than 20% of the population suffers from one of these diseases, which translates into 1 in 5 people. As their name indicates, they are pathologies in which Internal Medicine, Digestology, Dermatology and Rheumatology have multiple points of interrelation, both clinical and pathophysiological: autoimmunity, genetic variables that they share and immunological alterations are common mechanisms in this type of pathologies.
Most frequent inflammatory and autoimmune pathologies
- Cutaneous Lupus and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
- Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Antiphospholipid Syndrome
- Spondyloarthropathies (such as spondyloarthrosis)
- Psoriasis
- Psoriatic Arthritis
- Ankylosing Spondylitis
- Sjögren’s Syndrome or also called Dry Syndrome
- Polymyalgia Rheumatica
- Systemic Vasculitis
- Cutaneous Vasculitis
- Horton’s Arteritis
- Inflammatory Bowel Diseases: ulcerative colitis, Chron’s Disease
- Autoimmune Hepatopathies
- Inflammatory Myopathies
- Dermatomyositis
- Mixed Connective Tissue Disease
- Systemic Sclerosis or also called Scleroderma.
Importance of an interdisciplinary approach to systemic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases
Each of these pathologies has its own characteristics and may affect some target organs depending on the idiosyncrasies of the patient, and in these cases require a more exhaustive control by the appropriate specialist. Some frequent examples of interaction between specialties would be: psoriatic arthritis: Dermatologist/Rheumatologist; spondyloarthropathy with inflammatory bowel disease: Digestive/Rheumatologist; systemic lupus erythematosus: Internal Medicine/Dermatologist, etc.).
How can inflammatory and autoimmune diseases affect the patient’s daily life?
The morbimortality of these pathologies is not negligible. Although immunomodulatory drugs currently make it possible to achieve remission of the disease in most cases, as well as good control during the patient’s lifetime, it is the consumption of resources, the adverse effects of the medications and the sequelae of the diseases that represent an important burden, both physical and psychological, on the patient and their daily environment, substantially affecting their quality of life and life expectancy.
Multidisciplinary Unit for Inflammatory and Systemic Autoimmune Diseases
In these pathologies, early diagnosis is essential and, therefore, a comprehensive approach to the disease, taking advantage of the so-called “window of opportunity”. Carrying out a rapid and accurate diagnosis leads us to be more effective and efficient. These are patients with highly complex care and that is why the respective national and international Scientific Societies of each specialty recommend setting up multidisciplinary work units within the same hospital to achieve excellence in care and improve the quality of life of these patients.