Lupus
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What is happening in research?
Many doctors and scientists are investigating the cause and cure of lupus. At medical centres worldwide (including Canada), research has led to improved tests and techniques for diagnosis and better methods for predicting flares. These allow doctors to start treatment sooner, which improves chances for success.
As part of research, many centres collect and store patient information and statistics. The results of this data can help doctors and patients make better decisions about treatment of an increasingly wide range of symptoms. This, along with todays advances in technology, the greater awareness about lupus, and the promise of a cure, gives hope to all whose lives are touched by lupus.
Lupus
Lupus: The disease with 1000 faces!
What is lupus?
Lupus is a chronic disease with a variety of symptoms caused by inflammation in one or more parts of the body. It is estimated that it affects more than 50,000 Canadians.
Lupus is not contagious and is not related to AIDS or cancer. It belongs in the family of diseases that includes rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, juvenile diabetes, and scleroderma.
The most common type of lupus is SLE (systemic lupus erythematosus). It is a complex and baffling condition that can target any tissue or organ of the body, including skin, muscles, joints, blood and blood vessels, lungs, heart, kidneys, and the brain.
There are other types of lupus which mainly affect the skin. A few individuals develop drug-induced lupus as a response to some medications used to treat other conditions. These symptoms disappear when the person stops taking the medication.
Who gets lupus?
Anyone can: women, men, children. Between the ages 15 and 45, eight times more women than men get lupus. In those under 15 and over 45, both sexes are affected equally.
What causes lupus?
No one knows for sure. What we do know is that, in lupus, the immune system (the bodys defense against viruses and bacteria) is unable to tell the difference between intruders and the bodys own tissues. Trying to do its job, it attacks parts of the body, causing inflammation and creating the symptoms of lupus.
Because it occurs most often in women of childbearing age, it seems evident that there is a link between lupus and some hormones, but how this works remains uncertain. It also appears that inherited factors may make certain people more likely to develop lupus, but these also are not clear yet.
Until science fully understands how the immune system works, the specific cause of lupus remains unknown.
Four Forms of Lupus
There are four different forms of lupus, and each affects the body differently.
Drug-induced lupus: The most common form of lupus in older individuals is induced by drug exposure. It usually causes only a brief illness if the offending medication is identified and discontinued.
Discoid lupus: The second form is called discoid lupus, and occurs only on the skin. It causes a rash that can lead to permanent scarring of the skin. When the rash is in the scalp, it can be associated with permanent hair loss.
Systemic lupus: The third type of lupus is the systemic form, which is the most serious form, as it can affect any organ in the body. The systemic form is almost always associated with antibodies that are detected in the blood, causing the immune system to go haywire.
An overlap syndrome: Systemic lupus can also be part of an overlap syndrome that includes problems from more than one type of rheumatic autoimmune disorder such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis
What are the symptoms of lupus?
General statements about symptoms of lupus can be helpful, but each persons experience will be very different.
Some people will have only a few of the many possible symptoms. Because it can target any of the bodys tissues, lupus is often hard to pin down or diagnose. Thats why it is called “the disease with 1000 faces”.
Before symptoms specific to lupus occur, flu-like symptoms may appear, along with severe fatigue, a sudden unexplained loss or gain in weight, headaches, hair loss, hives, high blood pressure, or changes in the colour of fingers in the cold.
Any of the following may indicate to a doctor that lupus is present. A person with lupus may experience:
Joint pain, sometimes with swelling, redness and heat
A red rash across upper cheeks and bridge of the nose
Extreme fatigue
An unusual reaction to sunlight
A red scaly rash
Small, usually painless sores inside the nose or mouth
Chest pain, worse when lying down or inhaling
Swelling of feet and legs, weight gain
Seizures or severe psychological symptoms
Abnormalities in blood chemistry which show up in blood tests
This is far from a complete list of symptoms, and the diagnosis of lupus must be made by a doctor.
Living with lupus: what to expect
A chronic illness, lupus is different for each individual, but it often appears in cycles, which can consist of:
a flare, with severe acute symptoms needing medical attention;
a chronic phase, when symptoms may continue but are less severe;
a remission, when symptoms may disappear completely for long periods, but can return.
In the chronic phase, and especially in the remission phase (when it is easy to forget to take