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Lupus Case Study

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Diagnosis of lupus is complex. From the appearance of the first symptoms to an adequate diagnosis, on average it takes six years.
Women are 10 times more likely to develop lupus than men. African American women aged 45 to 65 have the highest risk of developing lupus (Sacks, J J, 1). SLE accounts for 70% of all cases of lupus. Approximately 10 to 15% of patients with lupus will have a premature death related to lupus (“Lupus Facts and Statistics | National Resource Center on Lupus.”3).
The figure1 and table1 below were retrieved from CDC’s web page. The CDC is currently updating this data, so far, no new data is available on mortality rate. The figure 1 and table 1 show the most recent data the CDC has on SLE mortality rates. The data was …show more content…

Table1 is subdivided into age groups, gender, and race.

Table 1 (Sacks, J J 3)

Other

Fig 2 (Gourley, Mark, and Frederick W Miller): Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Each sphere represents a disease phenotype, each square represents an individual genome, and each hexagon represents a particular environmental exposure, X indicates a protection from developing a disease phenotype within an individual genome. Figure2 helps visualize how a variety of SLE phenotype (symptoms) may result from different gene-environment interaction. Figure 2 shows the complexity of diagnosing SLE, due to the lack of a defined differentiation of symptoms among autoimmune diseases.

Condition that mimic SLE symptoms
Diseases Symptoms also present in SLE
Rheumatoid Arthritis* Inflammation of the lining of the joints
Sjogren Syndrome Dry eyes and dry mouth
Mixed connective tissue disorders Similar to SLE, but milder
Myositis* Inflammation and degeneration of muscle tissue
Rosacea Flushed face with pus-filled blisters
Seborrheic Dermatitis Sores on lips and nose
Lichen Planus Swollen rash that itches, typically on scalp, arms, legs, or in the …show more content…

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

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