[Immune senescence and autoimmunity. Does the immune system really age, or just the organs which supply it?].

Degenerative ageing processes are to a great extent responsible for organ-specific morbidity and mortality among our population. The incidence of many autoimmune diseases also increases significantly with age, as is evident with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) for example. From an immunological and pathogenetic perspective, that the changes in the immune system of RA patients is comparable to the physiological ageing process seen in healthy individuals approximately 20 years later is of great interest. Despite the manifold functional changes seen in the immune system of older people, the incidence of infection in very elderly patients with RA is only marginally increased, such that immune suppression in older RA patients should be carried out just as consequently as in younger patients. Age-related changes and diseases in other organ systems should receive particular attention, since such complications can have a negative effect on the course of the autoimmune disease as well as the rate of side effects.