It’s a common misconception. With Charlie Sheen announcing that he is HIV, that misconception has shown up across media this week. While both are horrible diseases, HIV is not autoimmune disease. The AARDA has released a statement wishing Charlie Sheen all the best and asked him to help educate the public on both diseases. The full release is here. Below are the key differences:
- AIDS is a virus that harms the body’s immune system. AIDS is also infectious
- With Autoimmune disease, the body’s immune system mistakes the body’s protein as foreign invaders and attacks healthy cells and tissues, causing different diseases. it was also mentioned that there is more than 100 autoimmune diseases.