Abstract
Dr. Shoenfeld's comments are well taken. Indeed we noted that only 5% of the elderly population suffer from some form of autoimmune disease. The incidence of autoimmunity, however, increases with age. In many reports, the term autoimmunity is used synonymously with autoimmune disease. However, we exercise special care in using the two terms in their more precise senses; that is, we use “autoimmunity” to indicate elevated levels of autoantibodies and not necessarily disease.