Meaning of AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE

WordNet Dictionary
	Definition:		[n]  any of a large group of diseases characterized by abnormal functioning of the immune system that causes your immune system to produce antibodies against your own tissues
	Synonyms:		autoimmune disorder
	See Also:		ankylosing spondylitis, atrophic arthritis, autoimmune diabetes, autoimmunity, dermatosclerosis, discoid lupus erythematosus, disease, DLE, growth-onset diabetes, Hashimoto's disease, IDDM, idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, juvenile diabetes, juvenile-onset diabetes, ketoacidosis-prone diabetes, ketosis-prone diabetes, LE, lupus erythematosus, Marie-Strumpell disease, purpura hemorrhagica, rheumatism, rheumatoid arthritis, rheumatoid spondylitis, scleroderma, thrombocytopenic purpura, Type I diabetes, Werlhof's disease
Medical Dictionary
	Definition:		A condition in which the body recognizes its own tissues as foreign and directs an immune response against them.
Biology Dictionary
	Definition:		Disorder of the body's immune system in which the immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys body tissue that it believes to be foreign. insulin-dependent diabetes is an autoimmune disease because the immune system attacks and destroys the insulin-producing beta cells.