What is lupus?
- Lupus is a chronic, autoimmune disease that can damage any part of the body (skin, joints, and/or organs inside the body).
- In lupus, something goes wrong with your immune system, which is the part of the body that fights off viruses, bacteria, and germs (“foreign invaders,” like the flu).
- It is an autoimmune disease.
- Autoimmune means your immune system cannot tell the difference between these foreign invaders and your body’s healthy tissues (“auto” means “self”) and creates autoantibodies that attack and destroy healthy tissue.
What do we know? What causes it?
- You cannot “catch” lupus from someone or “give” lupus to someone via contact. Lupus is passed genetically.
- Lupus is not like or related to HIV (Human Immune Deficiency Virus) or AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome).
Can you treat it?
- There is currently no cure for any form of lupus.
- Various therapies and medications used to treat the multiple symptoms of lupus are commonly used.
- Treatments for lupus may include immunosuppressant drugs that are also used in chemotherapy; however lupus is in no way related or like cancer.
Who has it?
- Lupus strikes mostly women of childbearing age (15-44). However, men, children, and teenagers develop lupus, too.
- Most people with lupus develop the disease between the ages of 15-44.
- Women of color are two to three times more likely to develop lupus than Caucasians.
Symptoms
- Painful or swollen joints
- Fingertips and/or toes become pale or purple from the cold or stress
- Sores in the mouth or nose
- Low blood count
- Red rash or color change on the face, across the cheek or bridge of nose
- Unexplained fever for several days
- Chest pain associated with breathing
- Protein in the urine
- Extreme fatigue — feeling tired all the time
- Sensitivity to the sun
- Depression, trouble thinking, and/or memory problems
- Unusual hair loss, mainly on the scalp
Diagnosing Symptoms
- Lupus is difficult to diagnose because its symptoms come and go, mimic those of other diseases, and there is no single laboratory test that can definitively identify the illness.
- Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is the form of the disease that most people refer to when they say “lupus.” The word “systemic” means the disease can affect many parts of the body — including the kidneys, brain or central nervous system, blood and blood vessels, skin, lungs, heart and joints.
- Skin involvement occurs in up to 80% of patients.
Why is it so difficult to treat?
- Lupus is usually treated by a rheumatologist who specializes in treating diseases that affect the joints, muscles and bones. Specific manifestations of lupus, such as heart and kidney disease, may be treated by other types of physicians specializing in that field.
- Since lupus is highly individualized, and no two cases are exactly alike, the treatment also varies depending on the symptoms and needs of the patient.
- Anti-inflammatory drugs, anti-malarials, and steroids, such as prednisone, are used to treat lupus. Cytotoxic chemotherapies similar to those given in the treatment of cancer are also used to suppress the immune system in lupus patients.
Reasons to be hopeful
While there are no known root causes or cure for lupus, the progress of recent discoveries and treatments in development in encouraging. Since lupus affects over 1.5 million Americans and 5 million people worldwide, there are plenty of advocates to help raise awareness and support funds like the E.R.I.C.A. Lupus Patient Assistance Fund through The UCHealth Northern Colorado Foundation. We know how many people are affected daily because of lupus, and we can help them by sharing information on upcoming awareness events as we educate others on their options to help drive more extensive research. The E.R.I.C.A. fund and events focus mainly on raising funds to support patients of lupus and their families directly, but there also are others out there that focus on research dollars to work towards more accurate diagnosis.
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