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Did you know COVID-19 infection can actually trigger an autoimmune disease? đź¦
Here’s how ⬇️
➡️ Molecular mimicry – The antibodies your body makes to fight COVID sometimes get “confused” and start attacking your own body.
➡️ Inflammation – COVID sparks inflammation that can trigger a chain reaction, leading to long-term immune system problems (part of what we now call Long COVID).
⚠️ If you’re experiencing unusual symptoms after COVID, it’s not in your head, it could be your immune system reacting.
👉 Takeaway: If you’re struggling with lingering issues after COVID, don’t ignore it, talk to a specialist.
✨ Follow me for clear, expert-backed answers on autoimmune diseases & rheumatology.
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Can COVID infection trigger an autoimmune disease? I had a patient that came to the office yesterday asking this question. Um my name is Dr. Arinola and I’m a rheatologist for the last 20 years. Let’s talk about it. So the answer is yes. And this is the two ways in which the COVID infection can trigger an autoimmune disease. One is called molecular mimicry. What does that mean? It means that the COVID virus itself has little spikes on it uh called antigens. And the only reason to know that is that these antigens have your body create antibodies and that’s how your body knows that there is something called co virus in your body. Your body creates this antibodies and these antibodies fight the covid virus. Sounds good. But these antibodies may also be triggered to now fight different parts of your body which is what an autoimmune disease is. When your body’s antibbody creates antibodies that fights itself, that is an autoimmune disease. So sometimes the covid virus can trigger an antibbody production and this antibbody not only fights the covid virus but also fights your own body. Two, inflammation. When you have a covid virus infection, it triggers inflammation and sometimes this inflammatory process triggers a full cascade. So we’re having more patients now that we’re realizing have this process called long COVID syndrome and part of it is because the immune system has been triggered. Now there’s no clear treatment for it but there are lots of trials and studies going on right now to help people deal with this. So if you do have this long COVID syndrome, it’s not in your head. It’s actually something that’s happened to your body because of that initial COVID virus infection.
