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Immune disorder

Immune disorder is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Immune disorder rather than just read about it. In short: An immune disorder is a dysfunction of the immune system. These disorders can be characterized in several different ways: By the component(s) of the immune system affected By whether the immune system is overactive or underactive By whether the condition is congenital or acquired According to the International Union of Immunological Societies, more than 150 primary immunodeficiency diseases (PIDs) have been characte…

Key takeaways

  • Immune disorder belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
  • Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
  • Connect Immune disorder to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
  • Reproduce the core statement of Immune disorder from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

An immune disorder is a dysfunction of the immune system. These disorders can be characterized in several different ways:

By the component(s) of the immune system affected By whether the immune system is overactive or underactive By whether the condition is congenital or acquired According to the International Union of Immunological Societies, more than 150 primary immunodeficiency diseases (PIDs) have been characterized. However, the number of acquired immunodeficiencies exceeds the number of PIDs. It has been suggested that most people have at least one primary immunodeficiency. Due to redundancies in the immune system, though, many of these are never detected.

Autoimmune diseases

An autoimmune disease is a condition arising from an abnormal immune response to a normal body part. There are at least 80 types of autoimmune diseases. Nearly any body part can be involved. Common symptoms include low-grade fever and feeling tired. Often symptoms come and go.

List of some autoimmune disorders

Alopecia areata Celiac disease Goodpasture syndrome Graves' disease Certain types of hemolytic anemia Immune thrombocytopenic purpura Lupus Lyme disease (late disseminated infection) Multiple sclerosis (although it is thought to be an immune-mediated process) Some types of myopathy Pernicious anemia Rheumatoid arthritis Scleroderma Type 1 diabetes Vasculitis

Immunodeficiencies

Primary immune deficiency diseases are those caused by inherited genetic mutations. Secondary or acquired immune deficiencies are caused by something outside the body such as a virus or immune suppressing drugs. Primary immune diseases are at risk to an increased susceptibility to, and often recurrent ear infections, pneumonia, bronchitis, sinusitis or skin infections. Immunodeficient patients may less frequently develop abscesses of their internal organs, autoimmune or rheumatologic and gastrointestinal problems.

Primary immune deficiencies Ataxia–telangiectasia Autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome (ALPS) Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD): a deficiency in NADPH oxidase enzyme, which causes failure to generate oxygen radicals. Classical recurrent infection from catalase positive bacteria and fungi. Common variable immunodeficiency (CVID): B cell levels are normal in circulation but with decreased production of IgG throughout the years, so it is the only primary immune disorder that presents onset in the late teens years. DiGeorge syndrome Hyper IgM syndrome: X-linked disorder that causes a deficiency in the production of CD40 ligand on activated T cells. This increases the production and release of IgM into circulation. The B cell and T cell numbers are within normal limits. Increased susceptibility to extracellular bacteria and opportunistic infections. Hyperimmunoglobulin E syndrome (also known as Job's Syndrome) Leukocyte adhesion deficiency (LAD) Selective immunoglobulin A deficiency: the most common defect of the humoral immunity, characterized by a deficiency of IgA. Produces repeating sino-pulmonary and gastrointestinal infections. Severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) Wiskott–Aldrich syndrome (WAS) X-linked agammaglobulinemia (XLA; also known as Bruton type agammaglobulinemia): characterized by a deficiency in tyrosine kinase enzyme that blocks B cell maturation in the bone marrow. No B cells are produced to circulation and thus, there are no immunoglobulin classes, although there tends to be a normal cell-mediated immunity. X-linked lymphoproliferative disease (XLP) NF-κB Essential Modifier (NEMO) mutations Secondary immune deficiencies AIDS

Allergies

An allergy is an abnormal immune reaction to a harmless antigen.

Allergic rhinitis Anaphylaxis Atopic dermatitis Food allergy Mastocytosis Perennial allergy Seasonal allergy

Overactivation Cytokine storms (excessive secretion of cytokines) are suspected as the cause of deaths in the 1918 "Spanish Flu" pandemic, acute pancreatitis, and COVID-19. Cytokine storm syndrome has multiple undesirable symptoms.

See also Hypersplenism Disorders of human immunity

References

External links

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Immune disorder

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Immune disorder claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Immune disorder before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Immune disorder ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Immune disorder

In research
Immune disorder appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry
Engineering practice reuses Immune disorder in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom
Immune disorder is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Immune system disorders, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life
Look for Immune disorder outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Immune disorder in 20 minutes

  1. Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
  2. Close the page and write down what Immune disorder means in your own words.
  3. Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
  4. Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
  5. Explain Immune disorder out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Immune disorder in simple terms?

An immune disorder is a dysfunction of the immune system. These disorders can be characterized in several different ways: By the component(s) of the immune system affected By whether the immune system is overactive or underactive By whether the condition is congenital or acquired According to the I…

Why does Immune disorder matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Immune disorder?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Immune disorder.

Tags

  • Immune system disorders

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