We are not alone. Right now, there are over 500 species of bacteria living in your mouth. Each part of your gut (stomach, small intestine, large intestine) provides a home to 1000 unique bacterial species. There are many more bacteria living on your skin and in every orifice in your body. Microbes make up (at least half of) who we are. We are a walking ecosystem with an incredible diversity of organisms unique to us, and in more ways than one, they make up who we are and what we do. Continue reading The microbiome in autoinflammatory diseases: a missing link?
Tag Archives: CRMO
Jaw swelling and pain: a biography of CRMO
On Tuesday, I challenged readers to figure out the cause of a girl’s jaw swelling and pain. Over 130 people read the story, and seven people submitted their responses on this website. You can read the original case here. Read below for the complete case, in addition to comments about the correct diagnosis. Continue reading Jaw swelling and pain: a biography of CRMO
What the heck are autoinflammatory diseases?
Autoinflammatory diseases are a relatively new category of illnesses caused by disorders of one arm of the immune system. Many of these diseases are characterized by recurrent fevers, rash, chest and abdominal pain, and evidence of systemic inflammation on blood tests; these manifestations often mimic infectious or other illnesses, and it may take several years for the diagnosis to be made.
Most autoinflammatory diseases are genetic (inherited), start in childhood, and persist throughout adult life. These diseases are often present in several members of a family. Other autoinflammatory diseases appear to be acquired, perhaps due to the interplay of genetic and environmental factors, and can present at any time during childhood or adulthood.
The list of autoinflammatory diseases continues to grow every month. Here is a list of the autoinflammatory diseases as they stand so far:
- Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF)
- TNF receptor associated periodic syndrome (TRAPS)
- Hyperimmunoglobulin-D syndrome (Hyper-IgD syndrome, HIDS, also known as mevalonate kinase deficiency, MVK)
- Cryopyrin-associated periodic syndromes (CAPS):
- Familial cold autoinflammatory syndrome (FCAS, also known as familial cold urticaria)
- Muckle-Wells syndrome
- Neonatal onset multisystem inflammatory disease (NOMID, also known as CINCA)
- Deficiency of the interleukin-1-receptor antagonist (DIRA)
- Deficiency of the interleukin-36-receptor antagonist (DITRA)
- Periodic fever, aphthous stomatitis, pharyngitis and adenitis (PFAPA)
- Blau syndrome
- Pyogenic sterile arthritis, Pyoderma gangrenosum, Acne (PAPA)
- Synovitis, acne, pustulosis, hyperostosis, and osteitis syndrome (SAPHO)
- Adult-onset Still’s disease (AOSD)
- Macrophage activation syndrome (MAS)
- Behcet’s disease
- Schnitzler’s syndrome
- Chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis (CRMO, also known as chronic non bacterial osteomyelitis (CNO))
- Deficiency of adenosine deaminase 2 (DADA2)
- STING-associated vasculopathy of infancy (SAVI)