Rising Incidence of Autoimmune Diseases: Insights from the UK

Reports have indicated that the incidence of autoimmune diseases is rising. However, there is limited data on the incidence (new cases) and prevalence (total number of cases) of autoimmune diseases and how these metrics are changing over time. Additionally, it is unclear how age, socioeconomic factors, and other diseases may impact the incidence. To address this, a 2023 paper titled “Incidence, prevalence, and co-occurrence of autoimmune disorders over time and by age, sex, and socioeconomic status: a population-based cohort study of 22 million individuals in the UK” was published in The Lancet.

In this study, the authors examined health records of 22,009,375 individuals in the UK to calculate incidence rates of 19 different autoimmune diseases between 2000 and 2019. They found that 10.2% of the population was affected by an autoimmune disease, with women being more impacted than men. The incidence of autoimmune diseases increased over this period, with Celiac disease, Sjogren’s syndrome, and Graves’ disease showing the largest increases. However, some autoimmune diseases, such as pernicious anemia and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, decreased in incidence. The study also found that having one autoimmune disease increased the likelihood of being diagnosed with another.

The authors noted differences in diagnosis rates based on the time of year and socioeconomic factors, suggesting an environmental contribution to the onset of autoimmunity.

This data underscores that autoimmunity is a pressing health concern and highlights the need for more research to understand the factors contributing to its increase.

Citation:

Conrad, N., et al. (2023). Incidence, prevalence, and co-occurrence of autoimmune disorders over time and by age, sex, and socioeconomic status: a population-based cohort study of 22 million individuals in the UK. Lancet (London, England), 401(10391), 1878–1890. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(23)00457-9