’Im a massive fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe! It’s fantastic. Each movie stands on its own, but they all contain clever clues that interconnect and lead to the ultimate showdown, threatening Earth’s and humanity’s existence.

The movie shows that Earth was enjoying unprecedented peace, safeguarded by the technologically advanced security organisation S.H.I.E.L.D. However, everything changed when a self-proclaimed Norse god named Loki arrived, hell-bent on enlisting alien forces to annihilate the planet. In a shocking turn of events, he managed to turn S.H.I.E.L.D.’s own operatives, like Agent Barton, Dr Selvig, and others, against Earth. Instead of protecting humanity, they were now actively involved in its destruction.

This happens in an autoimmune disease:
Our antibodies, which are meant to protect our body, end up causing the disease.

Think of the immune system as our very own protective shield, equipped with special agents called antibodies. These antibodies act like superheroes, taking down disease-causing antigens like our favourite heroes in action movies battle alien forces. And the best part? Once the immune system defeats an antigen, it remembers it and prepares antibodies for the next attack. Our bodies are indeed amazing!

Autoimmune diseases are more common in women aged 40-45
The exact cause is unknown, but viral and bacterial infections can trigger these conditions. Certain medications and dietary habits, such as consuming Westernized foods or food additives, can also play a role. And here’s a twist—some studies suggest that environmental factors like genetically modified foods or agricultural methods may also contribute to autoimmunity.

Diagnosing autoimmune diseases is very challenging. The tricky part is that the antibodies causing these conditions can show up in the body long before any symptoms pop up. To make a diagnosis, doctors have to connect the dots between symptoms, blood tests, autoantibodies, inflammatory markers, and mean corpuscular hemoglobin. These tests aren’t usually the first things doctors think of when patients come in complaining of joint pain or vision problems. They’re typically the tests ordered when all other options have been ruled out.

Here’s the interesting part: not all autoantibodies lead to autoimmune diseases, thanks to immune tolerance. The body can actually tolerate these changes, but if the triggering factors stick around, it can transition into an autoimmune state.

I had a 42-year-old IT professional who came in with severe dry eyes. As usual we had checked her vision, tear film level and prescribed her anti digital eye strain glasses and lubricants.

But she came back to me in an even worse state. Not only had her dry eyes resolved but this this time she had a dry mouth as well.

That rang a bell and I ordered a plethora of lab investigations and imaging studies including lung X-ray much to the shock of the patient.

I informed her that i was suspecting an auto immune disease.

Turns out she was suffering from Sjogrens disease. Treatment modality will depend on what the patient is suffering from and vary from disease to disease ranging from anti-inflammatory medication to steroids.

Sometimes the patient will have to use medications lifelong.

In very serious cases if the disease is not diagnosed it can lead to complications like diabetic retinopathy in the case of a diabetic patient.

Outro
In the climax of the movie Avengers the anomaly of rogue agents was overturned when Loki was taken prisoner.

But in the case of auto immune disease prevention is bleak as its tough to identify the triggering factors and the diagnosis happens only when the disease is at its peak.

Until then eat organically produced foods and get a whole body check annually.