Is rheumatoid arthritis a haematological autoimmune disease?

[Lea 83]

Does anyone know the categories of autoimmune disorders (hematological etc) and which disorders belong to each type? I have been told that I may have an autoimmune disorder but most probably a non haematological one.

Thank you!

[ladypam]

a hematological disorder refers to a disorder that involves the blood cells. An example is in patients with SLE or systemic lupus erythematosus. RA is an autoimmune disorder but not hematological.

Hope this helps.

[tinmuning]

Books and articles have several ways of categorizing autoimmune disorders. Some would categorize it as organ-specific (i.e. Hashimoto's thyroiditis and Graves' disease which affects the thyroid gland) & non-organ-specific (like rheumatoid arthritis); some would group the said disorders as those that damage many organs (systemic autoimmune diseases, which includes RA) and those where only a single organ or tissue is directly damaged by the autoimmune process (localized).

There are autoimmune disorders that can also be categorized under hematologic disorders like SLE, but RA is not one of them. RA principally attacks the joints & may also affect the lungs, pericardium, pleura, and sclera,and also nodular lesions, most common in subcutaneous tissue under the skin.