Lupus Erythematosus, chronic autoimmune
disease in which the immune system treats the your own tissue as a foreign
substance and produces antibodies to fight it. The damage caused by these
antibodies may produce symptoms such as a characteristic butterfly-shaped rash
on the face, headache, fatigue, arthritic joint disease, heart damage, shortness
of breath, and impaired kidney function. Commonly known as lupus or SLE, the
disease follows an unpredictable course of remissions and flare-ups, and may
often be incapacitating. An estimated 2 million people in the United States
suffer from lupus and the disease strikes women nine times more than men.
As with other autoimmune diseases, the exact cause, or trigger, for
lupus remains unknown. Research has shown that the disease results when a
specific set of susceptible genes is exposed to a combination of environmental
factors such as infectious agents, certain drugs such as anticonvulsants, some
penicillins, and estrogen therapy, excessive ultraviolet light, physical trauma,
or emotional stress. It is not known which of these factors sets the illness in
motion.
Diagnosis of lupus is difficult and can take years because symptoms
are intermittent or may mimic other disorders. Doctors tend to ignore the
possibility if you’re a male. Diagnosis begins with a complete medical
history, a physical examination, blood tests, and other studies that may be
necessitated by the patient’s symptoms. The physician, normally a
rheumatologist (an expert on musculoskeletal and immune system conditions) must
consider and rule out other disorders such as chronic fatigue syndrome or
mononucleosis before confirming the diagnosis. The disease is confirmed if the
patient has four of eleven criteria devised by the American College of
Rheumatology, including a butterfly rash, sun sensitivity, a kidney disorder,
and blood abnormalities. If these criteria are not present, additional blood
tests, bone scans, or skin biopsies may help confirm the diagnosis.
Treatment for lupus requires a balance of medication and the
control of environmental factors. Medications include aspirin and other
nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs as well as prescription drugs such as antimalarials,
which relieve joint, skin, and fatigue symptoms, and corticosteroids,
strong substances that suppress the immune response. A patient with lupus should
avoid sunlight, eat a healthy diet, exercise, and minimize stress. Stress has
been shown to be directly responsible for flare up’s.
