Symptoms of Lupus Essays

     Lupus is a potentially life threatening disease that effects about 1.5 million Americans. Lupus can effect many different parts of the body. Lupus is a type of autoimmune system disorder in which the body cannot distinguish the difference between foreign antibodies and its own organs. So basically what happens is that the body ends up attacking its own organs thinking they are foreign substances. (The Lupus Foundation of America)

Lupus is a chronic inflammatory disease of unknown cause that can affect virtually any part of the body. The medical term for Lupus is Systemic Lupus Erythematosus or better known as SLE. With Lupus there is a malfunction in some of the cells of the immune system. "In Lupus, the body overreacts to an unknown stimulus and makes to many antibodies, or proteins directed against body tissue. Thus, Lupus is called an autoimmune disease. ”#

Lupus is an autoimmune disease that attacks women between the ages of 15 and 40. It occurs less often in men than in women. The people affected by lupus vary depending on the country or region. In the US alone, the prevalence rate is highest among Asians of Hawaii, blacks of Caribbean origin, and Native Americans of the Sioux, Arapahoe, and Crow tribes. Lupus is a disease that affects the immune system. We can think of the immune system as an army within the body with hundreds of defenders (known as antibodies). They defend the body from attack by germs and viruses. In lupus, however, the immune system becomes overactive and creates antibodies that attack healthy tissues in the body, such as: the skin, kidneys, lungs, heart and brain.

Lupus does not have a known cause, and because of that it has no known cure. The exact cause of lupus is unknown, but scientists suspect that it is likely to be a combination of factors, people who contract lupus are probably genetically predisposed to lupus, and know that environmental factors such as infections, antibodies, ultraviolet light, extreme stress and certain drugs play a critical role in

It also give us the risk for development Lupus this website give us all the information we need to understand Lupus.

Lucci the patient had systemic lupus erythematosis, his silver eyebrows pointed to heaven, and he broke out into a big smile. When he asked me to explain why the patient had lupus, I named the fourteen manifestations of lupus and told Dr. Lucci the diagnosis of lupus was contingent on a patient's having at least four of the fourteen manifestations. His patient did indeed have five of the fourteen manifestations: non-deforming arthritis, Raynaud's phenomenon, in which the hands exhibit a two-phase color change when placed in cold water, alopecia or hair loss, oral ulcerations, and what appeared on the chest X-ray to be a pericardial effusion which suggested pericarditis.

ANA: test for these autoantibodies (very general); DsDNA (+): Making antibodies to and attacking own DNA; Anti-Sm (+): these antibodies generally interfere with the cells metabolism and are responsible for the symptoms specifically seen with SLE. Here, they are specifically targeted at smooth muscle. CRP elevated: also indicates presence of inflammation, but is more specific towards disease activity; ESR elevated: indirectly indicates the activity of the disease and presence of inflammation; C3 and C4 (decreased): C3 and C4 usually attack the membranes of viruses and bacteria, but in the case of lupus, they attack the own body’s cells. When C3 and C4 suggest the disease is active

Juvenile lupus is a “disease in which the immune system is overactive and does not function properly” (College of Rheumatology). As with many autoimmune conditions, the immune system attacks healthy tissues. In the case of juvenile lupus the immune system attacks different organs in the body, which results in painful inflammation in the child (College of Rheumatology). There are multiple possible factors included in the cause of juvenile lupus, like hormones and the environment, but because the cause of lupus is still unknown, no one really knows how to prevent it from happening in children (College of Rheumatology). There is no cure for lupus, but there are many successful treatments to help children and teens with juvenile lupus (College of Rheumatology).

“The majority of people with Lupus are female, and most first develop signs and symptoms of the illness between the ages of 15 and 44.” (S.L.E. Lupus Foundation). Lupus discriminates against African American, Latina, and Native American Women. “African-American women are three times more likely to get Lupus than Caucasian women and the disease is two times more prevalent in Asian-American

Drug-Induced Lupus is a drug like form of Lupus that is formed by taking a certain type of drug. While the more common form of lupus develops mostly in women, Drug-Induced Lupus is mostly developed in men. Drugs that are mostly affiliated with this form of Lupus include: Hydralazine, a treatment for high blood pressure, Isoniazid, treatment for tuberculosis and Procainamide, a treatment for irregular heart beats. The similar Lupus symptoms will disappear after six months of not taking these medications.

The causes that cause lupus are still unknown and their symptoms differ depending on each person. Lupus can appear in the form of buds, whose intensity can vary. Some of the most common symptoms that can be seen in the disease are: Pain or swelling in the joints, feet and around the eyes Muscle pain and extreme tiredness Fever without known cause Red rashes on the skin, usually on the face and in the form of a butterfly Pain in the chest when breathing deeply Hair loss Pale or purple toes Skin sensitive to the sun Ulcers in the mouth

Most experts can agree that there are a number of factors that cause it; the causes of Lupus are from a combination of genetics and the environment. Sometimes people inherit what is called a “genetic predisposition” which means that they inherit the chance to eventually develop it. It is very hard to pinpoint one single source of cause that triggers Lupus like I mentioned before. Things in the environment like UV rays from the sun, or unrelated things like an infection or a pregnancy can trigger it. The symptoms of Lupus range from Extreme fatigue, headaches, photosensitivity, pain/swollen joints, and one clear indicator being a butterfly-shaped rash across the cheek or nose.

Lupus is a chronic inflammatory disease marked by its effect on various parts of the body, including the joints, skin, blood, and kidneys. It is a condition in which the body's immune system attacks its own cells and tissues, resulting in pain, inflammation, and often damage to organs. Lupus involves the immune system. The immune system makes antibodies that work to protect the body against foreign substances like viruses and bacteria. Such foreign bodies are called antigens. When a person has lupus, his or her body is unable to determine the difference between antigens and the individual's cells and body tissues. As such, the immune system creates antibodies against the individual's own tissues. These antibodies are called autoantibodies. Depending on the type of lupus, a wide range of symptoms may be experienced, from rashes, hair loss, and achy, swollen joints to fever, anemia, and abnormal blood clotting. Though the disease can affect many parts of the body, individuals usually experience symptoms in only a few organs. There is no known cure for lupus. However,

With the long term affects of Lupus, patients are recommended to limit sun exposure and use sunscreen to prevent flares, have good eating habits, get

As no lupus patients have similar symptoms, they don’t have an identical set of triggers. However, the common triggers include Stress, infection, sun exposure, or even seasonal flue. When you identify trigger within time, you can put in best efforts