Autoimmune disease

High school (ages 12+)
Human Body

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/autoimmune-disease

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is an autoimmune disease?An autoimmune disease happens when the body’s defense team gets confused and starts attacking its own healthy parts instead of just fighting germs.
2. Why does the body sometimes attack itself?It can happen when the body’s tolerance to its own tissues breaks down, so immune cells that should ignore the body start attacking it. This can be triggered by genes, infections, or hormones like estrogen.

Self-Tolerance: The immune system's ability to recognize and not attack the body's own healthy cells and tissues.
Molecular Mimicry: A process where a foreign antigen (like from a virus) closely resembles a self-antigen, leading the immune system to attack both.
Biologic Therapies: Drugs derived from living organisms, often designed to target specific molecules involved in the immune response.