our immune system protects us from many diseases but sometimes it can turn against us or be overwhelmed in this video we'll explore autoimmune diseases cancers and HIV and how they impact the immune system autoimmune diseases occur when the immune system mistakenly attacks the body's own cells tissues and organs causing inflammation and damage one of the most well-known autoimmune diseases is lupus lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease that can affect very various parts of the body including the skin joints kidneys heart lungs and brain symptoms vary widely but often include fatigue joint pain rash and fever the Hallmark of Lupus is a butterfly-shaped rash across the cheeks and nose another common autoimmune disease is rheumatoid arthritis which primarily targets the joints causing pain swelling and stiffness unlike osteoarthritis rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune condition where the immune system attacks joint tissue triggers for autoimmune diseases can include genetic factors environmental triggers like sunlight and reactivation of dormant viruses for example sunlight exposure can trigger lupus flareups while autoimmune diseases are not curable they are manageable treatments often include anti-inflammatory drugs immunosuppressants and lifestyle changes to manage symptoms and improve quality of life for example corticosteroids can reduce inflammation and suppress the immune system helping to control lupus symptoms cancer is characterized by the uncontrolled proliferation and spread of abnormal cells which can form tumors and invade other parts of the body Cancer Treatments include surgery to remove tumors radiation therapy to destroy cancer cells chemotherapy to Target rapidly dividing cells hormonal treatments and specific Inhibitors cancer drugs include calculating agents antimetabolites biological response modifiers anti-tumor antibiotics and plant alkaloids these drugs work by targeting different aspects of cancer cell growth and survival for example chemotherapy drugs like doxorubicin intercalate DNA strands preventing cancer cells from replicating and leading to their death let's move on to another important autoimmune disease HIV the human immuno deficiency virus attacks the immune system leading to immune suppression and increasing the risk of opportunistic infections there are two main types HIV 1 which is the most common globo and HIV 2 HIV is transmitted through sexual contact from mother to child or bodily fluids the virus suppresses the immune system making it difficult to fight off infections and certain cancers while HIV is the virus that infects the body AIDS is the condition that can happen as a result of an HIV infection when you're immune immune system is severely weakened the progression to AIDS involves five stages initial transmission an asymptomatic period lasting over 10 years onset of HIV symptoms development of AIDS with a CD4 cell count below 200 millim of blood and the final stage leading to severe immune suppression and death medications for HIV include reverse transcriptase Inhibitors such as nucleoside analoges and non nucleoside reverse transcriptase Inhibitors nnrtis these drugs prevent the virus from replicating and help manage the infection for example zovine a inhibits the reverse transcriptase enzyme preventing the HIV virus from making copies of itself