The biological burden of autoimmune disease in women

25 August, 2025 | Tessa Wiles | Vitafood Insights

Vitafoods Insights sat down with Dr Antonella Santuccione Chadha, founder of the non-profit  Women’s Brain Foundation, to discuss the potential link between viral infections and autoimmune diseases.

She explained that female bodies have a higher predisposition for viral infections, which may be due to their heightened which may be due to their heightened sensitivity; this could trigger autoimmune diseases and then lead to immunological conditions. Dr Chadha highlighted the link between the brain and autoimmune diseases, explaining that many autoimmune diseases, such as lupus and multiple sclerosis, have neurological components.

“If you speak with patients who have lupus or have another type of immunological disorder, they will tell you that they experience brain fog, fatigue, and they have difficulties in concentration,” she said.

Read more on page 18

Return Home

Make a Donation

We are here to transform medicine and healthcare towards precision medicine. Right now, there is a critical need for your support. Donate today and help us continue to study Sex and Gender differences impacting brain and mental diseases.

Health begins with human beings, individuals – men and women are different when it comes to brain and mental disease frequency, severity, symptomatology, risk factors and even response to treatments. Thanks to the gifts from supporters like you the scientific community is starting to take note. We have shown the world that in diseases like Alzheimer’s for instance, disease progression is faster in women than men and women show different levels of biomarkers.

Our goal is to clearly identify such differences in diseases, diagnostic, and treatments, as well as novel technologies, and leverage them for better solutions. We ask for better clinical outcomes, better care, and innovative artificial intelligence (AI)-based solutions. Sex and gender differences are the first steps towards precision medicine, which acknowledges the specific needs of each patient. Our ultimate ambition is the realisation of the Research Institute for Sex and Gender Precision Medicine.