Autoimmune disease clusters run in families (polyautoimmunity) are associated with low vitamin D
How do autoimmune diseases cluster in families? A systematic review and meta-analysis - 2013
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Vertical axis = what you have, Horizonal axis = what relatives have

Figure 8 Familial autoimmunity. The vertical axis corresponds to the proband’s disease and each disease individually. In the horizontal axis diseases present in first degree relatives are shown. Each color belongs to the proband’s disease. The figure only includes significant results and may serve as a guide for clinical practice in order to search ADs in FDRs of probands. Note that familial autoimmune disease is excluded.
Most of the following diseases have studies on VitaminDWiki, only a few hyperlinks have been made
| AA, alopecia areata; | AdD, Addison’s disease; | AS, ankylosing spondylitis | AITD, autoimmune thyroid disease |
| CD, celiac disease; | CrD, Crohn’s disease; | FDR, first degree relative; | IBD, inflammatory bowel disease |
| IIM, idiopathic inflammatory myositis; |
JDM, juvenile dermatomyositis; |
JRA, juvenilerheumatoid arthritis; |
JSLE, juvenile systemic lupus erythematosus; |
| MAS, multiple autoimmune syndrome; | MG, myasthenia gravis; | MS, multiple sclerosis | PA, pernicious anemia; |
| PAN, polyarteritis nodosa; | PBC, primary biliary cirrhosis; | PSO, psoriasis; | RA, rheumatoid arthritis |
| SLE, systemic lupus erythematosus | SS, Sjögren’s syndrome; | SSc, systemic sclerosis; | T1D, type 1 diabetes; |
| UC, ulcerative colitis | VIT, vitiligo | WG, Wegener’s granulomatosis. |

Do Autoimmune Diseases Run in Families? HealthCentral 2013 reporting on the study
- " . . autoimmune diseases which tend to cluster (aggregate) in our families."
- "Familial autoimmunity was investigated in five major autoimmune diseases: rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, autoimmune thyroid disease, multiple sclerosis, and type 1 diabetes mellitus. "
- Example: familial autoimmunity in Graves’ disease 14 X more likely to have family members to have pernicious anemia or RA
This study was cited by 65 other publications in Google Scholar as of Jan 2017 such as:
Hashimoto thyroiditis: clinical and diagnostic criteria
Diagnosis and classification of autoimmune diabetes mellitus
Pathogenesis and prevention of rheumatic disease: focus on preclinical RA and SLE
Systemic sclerosis at the crossroad of polyautoimmunity
New insights into an autoimmune mechanism, pharmacological treatment and relationship between multiple sclerosis and inflammatory bowel disease
The diagnosis and clinical significance of polyautoimmunity
Is narcolepsy a classical autoimmune disease?
Associated autoimmune diseases in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM)
Identification of a new disease cluster of pemphigus vulgaris with autoimmune thyroid disease, rheumatoid arthritis and type I diabetes
Prevalence of celiac disease in Latin America: A systematic review and meta-regression
Many autoimmune disease have increased recently - while vitamin D has decreased
Diabetes age-adjusted![]() |
Diabetes (CDC)![]() |
Multiple Sclerosis 70 % ![]() |
Metabolic Syndrome 250 % ![]() |
Ulcerative Colitis 210 % ![]() |
Crohn's Disease![]() |





