Not Autoimmune

This is a list of diseases that are not autoimmune. We explain why they are not autoimmune and why we list them here.

Ehlers-Danlos syndromes

These are a group of connective tissue diseases that have many of the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases.

Why not autoimmune: EDS is caused by an “autosomal” genetic mutation, not an autoimmune response where the body is attacking itself. Autosomal genes are all of your genes that are not on the X or Y chromosomes. Since humans generally have 23 pairs of chromosomes, 1 of which are the pair of sex chromosomes, the other 22 chromosomes are autosomal. Most genetic conditions are “autosomal” simply because that is where most of the genes are located. The “auto” in autosomal has nothing to do with the “auto” in autoimmune.

Why listed: Because EDS has many of the same symptoms as some autoimmune diseases, it’s important to have a genetic test to determine which disease you have, since the treatments for EDS are not the same as those for autoimmune conditions with the same symptoms.