4 ms·

Re: the article title: Isn't "autoimmunity" alone the good thing? -- it's what your body does to fight things off. "Why autoimmune diseases are more..." seems l

Re: the article title: Isn't "autoimmunity" alone the good thing? -- it's what your body does to fight things off. "Why autoimmune diseases are more..." seems like better title. Maybe I'm just not aware of the common verbiage in medical circles but it seems a little sloppy for Nature.

lthornberry 5y ago
My rule of thumb: if the choices are A) "maybe I'm just not aware of the common verbiage in [technical] circles" that I'm not a part of or B) "a little sloppy for" the multiple layers of experts involved in choosing and approving a title in a flagship science journal, it's very very likely to be A.
swatkat 5y ago
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoimmunity https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoimmunity ” Autoimmunity is the system of immune responses of an organism against its own healthy cells, tissues and other body normal constituents.”
bArray 5y ago
Autoimmune diseases/disorders are abnormal immune systems, either being overactive or underactive [1]. It's not generally a good thing and often leads to bad consequences. [1] https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/autoimmune-diseases https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/autoimmune-diseases
- adw 5y ago
  Type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, lupus, multiple sclerosis; a whole grab-bag of fun. These are also difficult diseases to treat – often involving biologics (large molecules administered by injection or IV). T1D is insulin, obviously, but the first big blockbuster medications in the space were Humira and Remicade, monoclonal antibodies, which are powerful immune-system suppressants but more selective (and therefore, relatively speaking, safer long-term) than systemic steroids like prednisone.
jhgb 5y ago
> it's what your body does to fight things off That's just immunity. Auto-immunity is "what your body does to fight itself off". You generally don't want to be fighting yourself off.
coldtea 5y ago
>- it's what your body does to fight things off. That's immunity. Auto in auto-immunity is not the "auto" from "automatic" but the ancient Greek "auto-" meaning "self-". So, auto-immunity is like self-fighting (fighting yourself). You don't want that.
- murderfs 5y ago
  > Auto in auto-immunity is not the "auto" from "automatic" (which is also from the Greek auto meaning self)
  - czrnb 5y ago
    I think GP meant it's not shorthand for automatic
    - coldtea 5y ago
      Yep. Automatic, autonomous, all are from auto (self), automatic being "doing by itself", autonomous being "governing itself" (or "self-sufficient"), etc.
folli 5y ago
It's sloppy of Nature to use the correct nomenclature?

lthornberry 5y ago

My rule of thumb: if the choices are A) "maybe I'm just not aware of the common verbiage in [technical] circles" that I'm not a part of or B) "a little sloppy for" the multiple layers of experts involved in choosing and approving a title in a flagship science journal, it's very very likely to be A.

swatkat 5y ago

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoimmunity https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoimmunity ” Autoimmunity is the system of immune responses of an organism against its own healthy cells, tissues and other body normal constituents.”

bArray 5y ago

Autoimmune diseases/disorders are abnormal immune systems, either being overactive or underactive [1]. It's not generally a good thing and often leads to bad consequences. [1] https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/autoimmune-diseases https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/autoimmune-diseases

adw 5y ago
Type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, lupus, multiple sclerosis; a whole grab-bag of fun. These are also difficult diseases to treat – often involving biologics (large molecules administered by injection or IV). T1D is insulin, obviously, but the first big blockbuster medications in the space were Humira and Remicade, monoclonal antibodies, which are powerful immune-system suppressants but more selective (and therefore, relatively speaking, safer long-term) than systemic steroids like prednisone.

jhgb 5y ago

> it's what your body does to fight things off That's just immunity. Auto-immunity is "what your body does to fight itself off". You generally don't want to be fighting yourself off.

coldtea 5y ago

>- it's what your body does to fight things off. That's immunity. Auto in auto-immunity is not the "auto" from "automatic" but the ancient Greek "auto-" meaning "self-". So, auto-immunity is like self-fighting (fighting yourself). You don't want that.

murderfs 5y ago
> Auto in auto-immunity is not the "auto" from "automatic" (which is also from the Greek auto meaning self)
- czrnb 5y ago
  I think GP meant it's not shorthand for automatic
  - coldtea 5y ago
    Yep. Automatic, autonomous, all are from auto (self), automatic being "doing by itself", autonomous being "governing itself" (or "self-sufficient"), etc.

folli 5y ago

It's sloppy of Nature to use the correct nomenclature?