Hydroxychloroquine Essay

     In conclusion Lupus is definitely a very serious disease that we must learn more about. My great aunt had Lupus for over ten years and during that time suffered in ways no person should have to. She would fall down constantly and break bones. Near the end of her life, she would break bones doing stuff as simple as getting out of bed.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) also referred to lupus dates back to the middle ages and has made an explosion in the past 60 years. Even though more than 1.5 million Americans have lupus and 90% of lupus sufferers are women, between the ages of 15 to 44 (Lupus Research Institute), there is little awareness about the disease. 72% of Americans aged 18-34 have either not heard of the disease or know nothing about it (Medical News Today). However, researchers continue on working to have a better understanding of SLE factors, pathophysiology, current treatment and new prospects for treatment.

Lupus “is predominantly a disease of young women (most commonly affecting women between the ages of 15–45) but can affect men as well” (Hughes & Sangle 2012). “Women of color (Asian and African American) are two to three times more likely to develop Lupus than Northern European women” (Hughes & Sangle 2012). It is a chronic autoimmune disease that affects many parts of the human body including the immune system, joints, skin, and organs within the body. Normally, the human body would produce proteins (antibodies) that protect the body from invaders such as viruses, bacteria and germs. In the human body afflicted with Lupus, the body becomes “autoimmune” and the body is unable to tell the difference between foreign invaders such as those named

Makover, M. & Zieve, D. (2011, February 14). Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. National Center for Biotechnology Information. Retrieved July

Today, the Lupus Foundation of America announced the new research grants awarded to fund critical areas of research where gaps in the understanding and knowledge of lupus including; pediatric lupus, cutaneous (skin) lupus, mid-to-late stage translational research, adult stem cells, and neuropsychiatric lupus, which affects the brain and nervous system. The LFA National Research Program; Bringing Down the Barriers, Is committed to accelerating the pace of medical discovery in lupus and directing support toward promising areas of study where other public and private organizations have not focused their efforts.

There are several types of lupus, but the most common and severe type is called Systematic Lupus Erythematosus or SLE. This form of lupus is an autoimmune disease that causes a chronic inflammation that can affect many major organs in the body. Common areas of the body that are affected are the skin, joints, kidneys, lungs, heart, and the nervous system. The immune system is the part of the body that fights off viruses, bacteria, and germs, and other foreign substances. The immune system produces proteins called antibodies. Antibodies specifically protect the body from the invaders because the immune system alone cannot tell the difference between foreign invaders and the body’s healthy tissues. When an antibody attacks healthy tissue, it then called an autoantibody. These autoantibodies cause inflammation, pain, and damage in various parts of the body that can ultimately lead to organ failure. The cause for lupus erythematosus is currently unknown. It is most likely a combination of genetics and environmental factors. This autoimmune disease can be triggered by some environmental factors, such as sunlight, stress hormones, or viruses.

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus is an autoimmune disorder that cause the body to attack its own connective tissue. The diseases effects patients largely in the skin and is thought to be named after the fact that some patients have rashes that resemble a wolf. Lupus also is a disease that is uncommon, appearing in 0.1% of the population and a 9:1 ratio in retrospect of women to men who have the disease. A study of the disease was done by the university of Iowa in 2006 that compared the levels of protein in the blood of patients with Lupus to that of patients who didn’t. To go further, there were 30 participants in the trial and half of those thirty were patients without Lupus.

Currently there are no treatments for cure of SLE. The only treatments available are treatments to suppress the progression on the disease, treatments to address complications cause by SLE, and treatments to relieve patients from the discomfort. There is no known etiology for SLE; therefore, there are no prevention methods for SLE. The recent improvement of the understanding of autoimmune diseases; in general, has helped improve prognosis. Faster and more precise diagnosis, leading to earlier treatment in suppressing the progression of the disease is allowing more patients to live a normal life span. Also, the 2011 FDA approval of the biologic drug called Belimumab has contributed to the improvement of prognosis. More research directed towards the understanding autoimmune disorder is needed. Unfortunately, the current knowledge is not enough to provide adequate and timely diagnosis. Due to the tight commonality among autoimmune diseases, a thorough understanding of the immune system is required to develop more effective treatments and a cure for systemic lupus

As a victim of lupus nephritis, I have found myself taking more medications just to treat side effects from other medications. Most doctors will discuss options for treating side effects that can easily cause a burden in the patient’s life. For example, long-term use of corticosteroids can increase your risk of infections, osteoporosis, and avascular necrosis. In most cases, there are ways to treat the disease and its symptoms, but some side effects just have to be dealt with. Long-term, most patients can live a normal and healthy life with the help of daily medications. Periodical checkups are recommended even for patients with the mildest form of lupus nephritis. Severe cases, meaning kidney failure, can result in doing well long-term as well. There’s always hope for new treatments and possibly a

SLE or Systemic Lupus Erythematosis is not easy to say, and even more difficult to diagnose and live with. The patient and medical provider’s goal is to find the most effective treatment plan for each individual patient to manage the symptoms with which they are presenting. This evolves over time through working at maintaining a balance between preventing flares and the potentially life-threatening organ damage they can cause, while maintaining quality of life and minimizing the side effects that can come from various

Wang et al. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders (2017) 18:186 DOI 10.1186/s12891-017-1543-z, PDF, “Is Hydroxychloroquine effective in treating primary Sjogren’s Syndrome: a systematic review and

Background: Athlete is a 18-year-old, Division 1 softball infielder managing Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). The athlete was diagnosed in the spring of 2012 after she fainted during high school basketball practice. She spent the following week and a half in Atlanta’s Women’s and Children’s Hospital undergoing testing to discover that SLE was the cause of her symptoms such as fatigue and joint pain. Since Lupus is an autoimmune disease, multiple systems are affected such as the musculoskeletal system, respiratory system and integumentary system. She currently complains most of pain in her knees, hips, and hands in addition to swelling in her joints. The integumentary system is easily affected by sunlight because of the inflammation it causes. She

The drug praziquantel is prescribed for patients with Shistomosomiasis and the pills can be taken in two to three doses in the course of a day or two. To maintain treatment, one have to abstain from the source of contain (Ferrara, 2010). praziquantel (Biltricide) is effective against all the forms of Schistomosomiasis, however other medications like oxamniquine, and metrifonate are still being used. They have all been proven to be safe and effective in treating schitomosomiasis. Metrifonate is used to treat urinary schistomosomiasis and oxamniquine is used to treat intestinal one. Oxamniquine is known to be used in Africa and south America (Mawyer, 2013).

SLE is an autoimmune disease that is more common in women versus men. Ninety-six percent of SLE cases are in women, whereas only four percent of SLE cases occur in men. The survival rate of systemic lupus erythematosus has improved due to many factors such as earlier diagnosis, better management of disease and prevention of organ damage. Despite these advances in care, the life expectancy of patients with SLE remains, lower than the general population. SLE may also be associated with an increased prevalence of cervical cancer and other cancers thereby shortening their life spans.

In 2012, the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics (SLICC) had published new classification criteria in which the patient must present with at least 4 of 17 SLICC classification criteria (listed in Table 2), including at least one clinical and one immunologic criterion. Nonetheless, SLICC has not been extensively used in studies to determine the incidence of SLE [2, 40].