About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Causes
By Mayo Clinic staffDoctors don't know what causes mixed connective tissue disease. The disease is part of a larger group of diseases known as autoimmune disorders. When you have an autoimmune disorder, your immune system — responsible for fighting off disease — mistakes normal, healthy cells for intruders. As a result, healthy tissue in your body is damaged, causing signs and symptoms of disease. In connective tissue diseases, your immune system mistakenly attacks healthy connective tissue.
It isn't clear what causes your immune system to attack your body. Doctors believe a complex mix of viruses, chemicals and genetic factors may be involved.
- Bennett RM. Clinical manifestations of mixed connective tissue disease. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Dec. 15, 2009.
- Mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD). The Merck Manuals: The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals. http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec04/ch032/ch032c.html. Accessed Dec. 25, 2009.
- Hoffman RW, et al. Immune pathogenesis of mixed connective tissue disease: A short analytical review. Clinical Immunology. 2008;128:8.
- Bennett RM. Definition and diagnosis of mixed connective tissue disease. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Dec. 15, 2009.
Find Mayo Clinic on