What are risk factors for autoimmunity?

My impression when was I first diagnosed, was that there was nothing I could have done, and that my illness was just rotten luck. This made me feel like a victim to my own body and like my body had failed me. These impressions were true...and not so true.
Then I started to study (and haven't stopped), and I have learned a few things.
Bottom line is experts have some ideas but they really don't know.

Some of the commonly listed 'risk factors' include:
Environmental Exposures
Infections
Young to middle aged women
Family History
Stress
Hormonal issues
Leaky Gut (this seems to be a strictly alternative health idea)
Pre-existing autoimmune disease (it is not uncommon to have multiple types)

The thing that is most commonly agreed upon is that it really is not understood what causes the development of autoimmunity. The 'risk factors' for different kinds of autoimmunity may tend towards different causes, but there is no definite cause and effect. For instance, one study found links between cigarette smoking and RA, major life stressors and RA, hair dyes and SLE among others. However, they aren't definitive--it's not a given. It's almost like there is an individual genetic weakness that is triggered by some kind of...trigger. But the key word here seems to be-individual.
The pattern I have found is that the risk factors for common chronic illness (diabetes, cancer, heart disease etc) are often in common with what possibly could trigger autoimmunity in general.
It would be nice if there were more education for the general public. If I had known that my stress level and hormonal issues could have resulted in what I have to deal with now, I would have been willing to make whatever changes I could possibly have made. In fact I had been trying different things to find what might work to make me feel better. I had been trying to find out how to be healthy for at least 10 years.
We need more specialists who can put the different complaints (puzzle pieces) together. We also need specialists who will listen to their clients when the clients say that something is wrong even when the labwork says otherwise. In my conversations with people I am learning that people with unverifiable complaints are often developing some kind of problem whether autoimmune or otherwise.
There is much work to do in the field of autoimmunity, and it is a class of disorders that is quickly growing in number.



Some articles I looked at in preparation for this blogpost:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19931651 (research abstract only)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18190880 (research abstract only)
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/449854_11 (research paper)
https://experiencelife.com/article/autoimmune-disorders-when-your-body-turns-on-you/ (I liked this article most...it has a more alternative approach to the question and is not a research article. It is more informational)