Clinical trials are essential in advancing medical knowledge and creating new treatments. By evaluating the safety and efficacy of new therapies, clinical trials can help determine which treatments work best and which ones need to be improved, ultimately improving patient outcomes.

A recent study published in The Lancet Rheumatology identifies a promising new blood biomarker that might be able to identify those at risk for severe scleroderma.

Drug repurposing is a relatively new concept; that is, it emerged in the early 2000s but garnered attention during the COVID-19 pandemic. The objective of drug repurposing is to speed up the drug discovery process by finding new uses for already existing drugs.

Sjögren's Awareness Month is a time to raise awareness about the complexity and underdiagnosis of Sjögren's disease.

The mystery of how autoimmune diseases come about continues to unfold as researchers learn more about the various immunological responses and triggers. Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis collaborated with the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania to identify a protein that drives immune response and overactivity.

In England, individuals with MS will soon have access to a take-home pill to manage relapses, eliminating the need for hospital visits for injections or infusions.

March is not only Autoimmune Awareness Month but also Women's History Month! These two celebrations occurring at the same time should be no surprise, especially since women are at a higher risk of developing autoimmune diseases compared to men.

Individuals diagnosed with an autoimmune disease may have heard of “multiple autoimmune syndrome.” Multiple autoimmune syndrome (MAS) is defined as a patient having at least three autoimmune diseases.

Rare Disease Day, observed every February 28th, is dedicated to raising awareness about the challenges faced by individuals living with rare diseases.

Diversity isn't just a buzzword when researching autoimmune and rare diseases—it’s essential for better treatments and care. These conditions affect people from all backgrounds, but clinical trials often don’t reflect that diversity.

Current treatments for autoimmune diseases mostly consist of drugs that suppress the immune system and can lead to undesirable side effects. However, a new study shows that vagus nerve stimulation—which consists of tiny pulses of electricity that stimulate the vagus nerve—may offer an innovative way to replace drug treatments.

A study published by the Journal of Investigative Dermatology reveals a potential breakthrough treatment for those diagnosed with vitiligo.

Last year, we discussed how artificial intelligence (AI) could be used to enhance autoimmune disease prediction and treatments through an algorithm called EXPRESSO—EXpression PREdiction with Summary Statistics Only—developed by a research team at Penn State College of Medicine. Penn State researchers have developed a new AI method to predict autoimmune disease progression.

Psoriasis is known to be a chronic skin condition, but it can also result in inflammation of the joints. Previous research also shows that Crohn's disease is one of the top comorbidities in psoriasis patients, but the reasoning behind this was unknown. However, new research at Uppsala University in Sweden could explain why those diagnosed with psoriasis are more prone to gastrointestinal problems.

The University of Toledo's College of Medicine and Life Sciences has made a groundbreaking discovery regarding the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a possible treatment that helps suppress inflammatory cells while increasing anti-inflammatory responses.

Working with data from the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH’s) All of Us Program, the Autoimmune Registry aims to transform how patients with autoimmune diseases understand and manage their health, providing them with critical insights that could lead to more personalized care and improved health outcomes.

This year, the Autoimmune Registry has continued to work towards reducing the time of diagnosis, supporting autoimmune research, computing prevalence statistics, and establishing autoimmune disease as a major disease class.

Autoimmune diseases can arise from a combination of genetic factors and environmental triggers. Increasingly, research has focused on the role of environmental exposures, particularly air pollution, in developing these conditions.