“A rise in the incidence of some autoimmune disorders has been described. However, contemporary estimates of the overall incidence of autoimmune diseases and trends over time are scarce and inconsistent. We aimed to investigate the incidence and prevalence of 19 of the most common autoimmune diseases in the UK….”

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In this UK population-based study, we used linked primary and secondary electronic health records from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink….a cohort that is representative of the UK population in terms of age and sex and ethnicity.”

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“Eligible participants were men and women with acceptable records, approved for Hospital Episodes Statistics and Office of National Statistics linkage, and registered with their general practice for at least 12 months during the study period.”

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“We calculated age and sex standardised incidence and prevalence of 19 autoimmune disorders from 2000 to 2019…”

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“Among the 22,009,375 individuals included in the study, 978,872 had a new diagnosis of at least one autoimmune disease between Jan 1, 2000, and June 30, 2019…..”

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“625,879 (63·9%) of these diagnosed individuals were female and 352,993 (36·1%) were male.”

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“Over the study period, age and sex standardised incidence rates of any autoimmune diseases increased. The largest increases were seen in celiac disease, Sjogren’s syndrome, and Graves’ disease…”

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“Together, the 19 autoimmune disorders examined affected 10.2% of the population over the study period…..”

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“A socioeconomic gradient was evident across several diseases….”

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“Seasonal variations were observed for childhood-onset type 1 diabetes (more commonly diagnosed in winter) and vitiligo (more commonly diagnosed in summer), and regional variations were observed for a range of conditions.”