Autoimmune disorders among top 10 killers of women
NEW YORK, Sep 05 (Reuters Health) - Autoimmune disorders such as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and type 1 diabetes are among the leading causes of death among American women under age 65, according to Connecticut researchers.
But the role autoimmune diseases play in mortality rates has gone unrecognized due to the way the list of the leading causes of death is compiled, the study authors say.
"The significant contribution of autoimmune diseases to mortality has gone unrecognized," state Dr. Stephen J. Walsh and Laurie M. Rau of the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington.
Autoimmune diseases, where the immune system mistakenly attacks the body's own tissues, are more common in women. The researchers explain that because these disorders are not classified the same way as other conditions such as heart disease or cancer, many autoimmune disorders are not in the list that physicians use when recording cause of death.
Walsh and Rau examined national mortality data for 1995 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, looking for mention of 24 different autoimmune disorders. They found that when the statistics were broken down to identify these conditions, autoimmune disorders were among the 10 leading causes of death among women in all age groups under 65. The findings appear in the September issue of the American Journal of Public Health.
Another reason that these diseases do not show up in the lists prepared by the National Center for Health Statistics, explain the authors, is that many doctors do not list chronic conditions as the direct cause of death when completing death certificates.
Other research has found that about 5% of American women have an autoimmune disorder, Walsh and Rau report. "Our study reflects the effects of that level of prevalence on mortality among young and middle-aged women," they add.
"Together, the prevalence and mortality estimates support the contention that the etiology, diagnosis, and treatment of autoimmune diseases constitute important issues in women's health," the researchers conclude.
SOURCE: American Journal of Public Health 2000;90:1463-1466. |
