Understanding Autoimmune Disease

Understanding Autoimmune Disease is a clear, practical Health & Wellness course for anyone who wants to better understand how autoimmune conditions develop, are diagnosed, and are managed over time. With Professor Anthony Owens, students gain a grounded overview of immune dysfunction, common disease patterns, treatment options, and everyday strategies for living with autoimmune disease.

Build Practical Knowledge Of Autoimmune Disease And Everyday Management

• Learn how the immune system normally works and what changes when a disease becomes autoimmune.
• Understand symptoms, flares, remission, diagnostic testing, and why diagnosis can take time.
• Explore major autoimmune disease groups, including joint, gut, thyroid, skin, neurologic, kidney, and connective tissue conditions.
• Gain practical Health & Wellness strategies for treatment safety, appointment preparation, lifestyle support, and long-term quality of life.

A practical introduction to immune dysfunction, diagnosis, treatment, and everyday management with Professor Anthony Owens.

This course provides a structured guide to Understanding Autoimmune Disease, beginning with the foundations of autoimmunity and moving into the real-world patterns patients and caregivers often encounter. You will learn how inflammation, antibodies, T cells, immune tolerance, genes, infections, hormones, and environmental triggers can all play a role in autoimmune disease development.

Professor Anthony Owens explains why symptoms can appear vague, shift over time, or involve multiple body systems, and why clinicians may need lab tests, imaging, biopsies, and ongoing monitoring to reach and refine a diagnosis. The course also compares localized and systemic autoimmune disease while introducing major condition groups such as lupus, Sjogren's, scleroderma, inflammatory bowel disease, autoimmune thyroid disease, skin inflammation, neurologic involvement, and organ-specific autoimmunity.

You will also examine treatment classes, including steroids, DMARDs, biologics, and targeted therapies, along with medication safety, infection risk, vaccines, and monitoring. The Health & Wellness focus continues through lessons on stress, sleep, nutrition, movement, symptom tracking, specialist visits, advocacy, and long-term planning.

By the end of Understanding Autoimmune Disease, you will be better prepared to interpret autoimmune health information, ask stronger questions during appointments, recognize patterns in symptoms and disease activity, and take a more informed role in everyday autoimmune disease management.