19 ms·
> Some diseases have big and obvious effects, while others are undetectable/unknown. A disease is a pathological process, something that goes wrong. If someone
by pyrale 3y ago
> Some diseases have big and obvious effects, while others are undetectable/unknown.
A disease is a pathological process, something that goes wrong. If someone lives their life without a symptom, they are not diseased.
Your immune system doesn't see "novel diseases", it encounters molecules it doesn't know. These molecules may be pathogenic (i.e. they cause a disease), or they may be harmless. Your immune system reacting disproportionately to harmless stuff, is what's called autoimmune disease.
- mrcode007 3y agoThe part about immune system reacting to harmless stuff is not true. Autoimmune diseases are diseases in which a body responds to itself. Not to external factors. Think of it as threat classification errors
- pyrale 3y agoOk. I wasn't sure there was a clear classification of what's external and what's "the body". My point was about making a distinction between disease and the thing being responded to.