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Women's Health and the Environment
A Factsheet
By National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
The body produces antibodies that fight foreign proteins known as antigens. In lupus, the antibodies mistake the body's own cells as foreign and attack them. The disease may range from mild to severe and is characterized by periods of flare-ups and remissions. Lupus may cause weight loss, fever, fatigue, aching and weakness and may involve different organ systems such as the central nervous system, the heart, lungs, kidneys, muscles and joints. A gene on chromosome 1 has been linked with susceptibility to lupus in Caucasians, Asians and African Americans.
Exposures to various chemicals such as pharmaceuticals and solvents have been linked to autoimmune diseases. For example, exposure to hydrazine, an industrial chemical, or tartrazine, a food additive, is associated with lupus. And scleroderma has been associated with workplace exposure to vinyl chloride and silica dust.
Women have particular environmental diseases related to their gender, as well as sharing other environment-related diseases with men and children.
While some environmental estrogens may cause harm, there is a possibility some may reduce risks.
Fibroids, the leading reason for hysterectomies, are being studied in African-American and white women in a Washington health plan.
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