What term describes a disease in which the immune system attacks the body’s own cells?
acute
contagious
inflammatory
autoimmune
An autoimmune disease is a disease in which the immune system attacks the body’s own cells. Why this happens is not known for certain, but a combination of genetic and environmental factors are likely to be responsible. Type 1 diabetes is an example of an autoimmune disease. In this case, the immune system attacks cells of the pancreas. Two other examples are multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.