1. Home
    2. Articles
  2. Lupus is a systemic autoimmune disease

Lupus is a systemic autoimmune disease

Leave a comment

Overview

Achy, swollen joints; fever; skin rashes; fatigue—these ar a number of the additional typical symptoms of general autoimmune disorder (SLE), a chronic, inflammatory disorder of the system that affects many body systems simultaneously. Approximately 1.5 million people in the United States have some form of lupus, according to the Lupus Foundation of America.

SLE is classified as an autoimmune disorder because the body’s immune system, which normally fights harmfulbacteria and viruses, also targets healthy tissue, sometimes including skin, joints, kidneys, brain, heart and lungs. The condition can result in immediately serious or life-threatening problems or in chronic low-grade symptoms, such as fatigue and muscle aches, which affect the quality of life.

In Latin, lupus means that wolf, and erythematosus means that redness. Physicians who first described the disease thought that one of its characteristic rashes looked liked a wolf bite. The terms “SLE” and “lupus” ar typically used interchangeably, however there ar many types of lupus, including:

  • Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) can affect almost any organ or system in the body. In some people with systemic lupus, only the skin and joints are involved; in others, the joints, lungs, kidneys, blood or other organs and/or tissues are all affected. Any two people with systemic lupus will be unlikely to have all the same symptoms. Systemic lupus could embody remission periods, throughout that few or no symptoms ar evident, and “flares,” when the disease becomes active.
  • Cutaneous autoimmune disorder, which incorporates circular lupus (DLE), involves the development of lesions on the face or other sun-exposed areas. The lesions are abnormally red, hard bumps or plaques. They may embody AN overgrowth of scaly tissue, plugged hair follicles and abnormally widened small blood vessels. Thinning of the healing skin is seen in active lesions furthermore as a part of symptom scarring. There is a loss of colorize the skin, called dyspigmentation in older lesions. If the condition involves the scalp, there may be permanent scarring and loss of hair. Lesions are usually on the face or other sun-exposed areas, but they can also occur in the mouth, nose or vagina. Many people have DLE without SLE. In approximately 10 percent of these cases, DLE later progresses to the more severe SLE. This is more likely to happen in patients with lesions both above and below the neck.
  • Drug-induced lupus is caused by certain medications, the most common being: procainamide (Pronesyl), used for heart rhythm abnormalities, and hydralazine (Hydra-Zide), used for high blood pressure. Drug-induced lupus sometimes does not have an effect on the kidneys or central systema nervosum and usually improves at intervals six months of once the drug is interrupted. There are also specific medications, such as hydrochlorothiazide and terbenifine, that can induce a specific form of cutaneous lupus, subacute cutaneous lupus.
  • Neonatal lupus, a very rare condition in a small percentage of newborns whose mothers have lupus, results from the passage of autoantibodies from the mother to her baby, most commonly anti-Ro/SSA or anti-La/SSB, which can affect the skin, heart and blood of the fetus and newborn. The most common symptom of neonatal lupus is an uncomplicated rash that appears within the first several weeks of life and may persist for about six months before disappearing. Less frequently, fetuses with neonatal lupus develop a congenital heart block. However, many of these babies do well with a pacemaker at birth. If a fetal heart condition is identified early enough during pregnancy, it might be possible to treat it with steroids orimmunosuppressive drugs.

In general, women are far more likely than men to develop autoimmune disorders, and SLE certainly fits that paradigm, occurring up to 10 times more frequently among adult women than among men. It is also more common in African-Americans, American Indians and Asians than in Caucasians. Although lupus will develop at any age, it is usually diagnosed in women during their childbearing years. Cutaneous lupus happens additional often in girls, however the magnitude relation of ladies to men is somewhat not up to with systemic lupus erythematosus.

If you have a parent, child or sibling with lupus, your risk of developing the disease is somewhat higher, although your health care professional probably won’t test you for the disease unless you develop symptoms. There is no known cure for SLE, but there are treatments designed to minimize symptoms and effects.

Lupus seems to result from a combination of genes and environment. Scientists suppose that folks might inherit a predisposition to developing lupus however not lupus itself. People who inherit the predisposition to the unwellness might develop lupus when they are available up-to-date with one thing that triggers it, like a pestilence or medication.

The number and sort of lupus symptoms vary wide among patients. Symptoms additionally tend to wax and wane, with patterns of inactive unwellness bracketed by lupus “flares.”

Diagnosis

Diagnosing systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is not easy. Sometimes the unwellness Associate in Nursingnounces itself resolutely with a flare resembling an infection, however additional typically the first stages of the unwellness manufacture solely obscure symptoms like aches, rashes or fatigue, which gradually worsen over time. Lupus symptoms is simply confused with those of alternative diseases.

Symptoms of lupus depend on which body systems are affected. The most common symptoms include:

  • arthralgia (joint pain)
  • arthritis (joint warmth, swelling and redness)
  • unexplained fever (over 100 degrees Fahrenheit)
  • extended or severe fatigue
  • skin rashes
  • anemia (abnormally low red blood cell count)
  • kidney damage
  • alopecia (hair loss)

Less common symptoms include:

  • pleurisy (chest pain when breathing deeply, caused by inflammation of the lungs’ lining)
  • photosensitive rashes that appear after exposure to sunlight
  • baldness on areas of the scalp
  • Raynaud’s syndrome (fingers turning white or blue in the cold)
  • seizures, psychosis and other neuropsychiatric problems
  • mouth or nose ulcers
  • pericarditis (chest pain caused by inflammation of the heart lining)
  • phlebitis (blood clots)

Consult a health care professional as soon as possible if you have any of the symptoms listed above, whether singly or in combination. Multiple general symptoms indicate a stronger chance that lupus is that the offender, and a rheumatologist should evaluate you.

An analysis for lupus consists of a radical anamnesis, a physical examination and laboratory tests.
An initial diagnostic and disease activity screen usually includes a complete blood count, liver and kidney tests, blood tests for autoantibodies (increased antibodies that target healthy tissues and are an indicator of autoimmune disease), skin biopsy, urinalysis (to detect possible kidney disease), blood chemistry work-up and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (a measure of inflammation).

The antinuclear antibody (ANA) test detects autoantibodies that react against components of the nucleus, or “command center,” of your own cells. A positive test indicates a stimulated immune system, which is common in people with lupus. However, ANA is also positive in people with other conditions, such as systemic sclerosis, mixed connective tissue disease and rheumatoid arthritis. In addition, people without such disorders could have a positive ANA test. A positive ANA can also be found in individuals over fifty.

Other autoantibody tests include anti-dsDNA, anti-Sm, anti-RNP, anti-Ro (SSA) and anti-La (SSB). Anticardiolipin or other antiphospholipid tests may indicate risk for a blood clotting disorder. In some cases, specialized diagnostic tests for the eyes, heart, lungs or brain, or a biopsy of the kidney may be performed.
Clearly, diagnosing lupus is a complex matter. If there is a reasonable likelihood that you have systemic lupus, you will need a referral to a rheumatologist.

Treatment

If diagnosed at an early stage, treated promptly and monitored routinely, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is rarely fatal. You should make certain that each health care skilled you touch upon is aware of you’ve got lupus.

Whether your unwellness is delicate or severe, you’ve got to remain underneath shut medical oversight. You should let your health care professionals know immediately if you suffer any injuries, get sick or plan to become pregnant because many things may cause your disease to flare.

Typical warning signs of a flare are:

  • increased fatigue, malaise and muscle aches (like the flu)
  • a new or higher fever
  • increased pain or swelling in the joints, especially when you wake up
  • development or worsening of a rash, particularly one that is made worse by the sun
  • shortness of breath or pain when breathing

Keep an open dialogue with a health care professional whom you trust and can easily reach in an emergency. If you are experiencing a flare, it might be important to receive diagnostic tests, change medications or postpone certain elective procedures or surgeries.

Although a lupus physiological condition is taken into account high risk, many ladies with lupus will carry their babies safely to the tip of the term if they set up the physiological condition with the help of a specialist ANd receive care from an veteran bad obstetric team. Women with lupus have a better rate of miscarriage and premature births compared to girls while not the unwellness. There area unit medications for lupus that area unit safe in physiological condition and vital in dominant unwellness activity throughout physiological condition. Currently, more than half of women with lupus have pregnancies that are completely normal, 25 percent deliver healthy babies prematurely and less than 20 percent experience miscarriage or death of a baby. About twenty p.c of pregnant girls with lupus can develop toxaemia of pregnancy, a kind of hazardously high pressure that will increase the danger of miscarriage, low birth-weight babies, premature births and injury to the mother.

Several over-the-counter and prescription medications are available to manage lupus symptoms including:

  • Monoclonal antibody. Belimumab (Benlysta) may be a antibody, a laboratory-produced molecule that mimics the disease-fighting properties of the body’s natural system. Approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2011, it’s the primary new treatment for lupus in over 0.5 a century. Belimumab may be wont to treat adults with active lupus World Health Organization are receiving customary medical aid, like corticosteroids, antimalarials, immunosuppressives and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Delivered intravenously, it targets B-lymphocyte stimulator (BLyS) protein, which may reduce the number of abnormal B cells thought to be a problem in lupus. Studies showed that individuals treated with belimumab, along with standard therapies, experienced less disease activity. The drug additionally could cut back chance of severe flares and permit some folks with active lupus to scale back their steroid doses. The most common side effects in the studies were nausea, diarrhea, fever and reactions at the intravenous infusion site.
  • Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen and naproxen, as well as aspirin.
  • Corticosteroids. These drugs, including prednisone (Deltasone), prednisolone (Prelone), hydrocortisone (Cortef) and methyl-prednisolone (Medrol), suppress the immune system and reduce inflammation. They can be taken orally, given through injection or used in cream formulations to treat skin lesions. However, they will result in varied aspect effects, including acne, weight gain, diabetes, cataracts, cardiovascular problems and heightened susceptibility to infections. People with lupus area unit particularly liable to weakened or broken bones, a side effect of high-dose or long-term corticosteroid treatment. People with lupus World Health Organization take corticosteroids ought to talk over with their health care professionals concerning taking cholecarciferol, metallic element or alternative treatments to stop pathology.
  • Antimalarial medicine, like anti-inflammatory drug salt (Plaquenil) and antimalarial (Aralen), will management a range of lupus systems as well as inflammatory disease, skin rashes, mouth ulcers, respiratory organ rashes,
  • Chemotherapy. Chemotherapy. Under some circumstances, chemotherapeutic drugss like methotrexate (Folex, Trexall, Rheumatrex), mycophenolate mofetil, azathioprine (Asasan, Imuran) and cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan) may be used to control symptoms of lupus. These are immunomodulating drugs, and they have some side effects, such as nausea, diarrhea, mouth ulcers, rashes, liver toxicity and bone marrow suppression, usually leading to low white blood cell counts. Cyclophosphamide, which may be used to suppress the immune system and inflammation, can be used safely, with care, but can have significant side effects, including gastrointestinal complications, hair loss and greater risk of infection. Methotrexate can cause inflammatory damage to the lung or liver.
  • Other therapeutic agents. Drugs like cyclosporine, a strong immunosuppressive agent that is used primarily in organ transplant patients, may sometimes be used to control symptoms of lupus. There is a potential for kidney damage with cyclosporine.
  • Anticoagulant medications. To help forestall blood clots, a serious complication of lupus, medications that help thin your blood—called anticoagulants—may be prescribed. These drugs include low-dose aspirin, heparin (Calciparine, Liquaemin) and warfarin (Coumadin). If you take anticoagulants, your health care professional will monitor you to make sure your blood doesn’t become too thin.
  • Topical steroids and nonsteroidal T cell inhibitors. Skin lesions can also be treated with topical steroids and topical nonsteroidal T cell inhibitors such as tacrolimus or pimecrolimus.

Prevention

While there is no way to prevent systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), there are things you can do to reduce the risk and severity of lupus flares. There also are ways that to cut back the potential facet effects of medicines accustomed treat the illness.

The first step is exercise. Getting low-impact, aerobic exercise regularly can reduce joint stiffness, lower stress levels and help prevent osteoporosis, weight gain and heart problems that may be caused by medications.

It is conjointly vital to see that environmental factors might trigger your lupus flares. Triggers may include:

  • Light. Exposure to the ultraviolet daylight (and, to a lesser extent, fluorescent and halogen lights) can lead to a skin rash and worsen other lupus symptoms. It helps to wear protective clothing and use sunscreen when outdoors. It is best to use a sunscreen that protects from both UVA and UVB light. Also keep in mind that some ultraviolet|ultraviolet illumination|UV|actinic radiation|actinic ray} light penetrates glass, including car windows. Try filters on windows to block UV light.
  • individuals with lupus typically link worsening symptoms or flares to nerve-wracking events like divorce, job change or a death in the family. It is vital to acknowledge that stress failed to cause the immune imbalance of lupus which it’s alright to get facilitate once facing a chronic and generally disabling pattern of symptoms. Try not to underestimate the support you could get from family, friends, health professionals or workplace human resource services. It is equally important not to put your life on hold. Using common sense and getting plenty of rest and exercise is a good antidote to stress. Putting your life on hold and going to bed for the rest of your life is not.
  • Overwork or lack of rest
  • Infection
  • Injuries or surgery
  • Pregnancy and childbirth
  • Suddenly halting lupus medications
  • Sensitivities or allergies to items such as hair dye, hair permanent solution, makeup and skin creams
  • Certain over-the-counter medications such as cough syrup or laxatives
  • Immunizations

Ongoing Research

There are several types of lupus that have specialized names: systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), which can affect almost any organ system in the body; primary cutaneous lupus (the most common form is discoidal lupus) involving chiefly the skin; drug-induced general lupus, a temporary reaction to certain drugs; and neonatal lupus, which occurs in babies born to mothers who had autoantibodies. A diagnosis of any of these types of lupus can be confusing because it can be serious and life threatening but is often mild to moderate in most people, especially with careful diagnosis and treatment.

e Facts to Know

  1. Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a disease in which your body’s immune system targets healthy tissue. Normally your immune system works by creating and dispatching antibodies, cells and special chemicals that react against antigens (molecules that lie on the surface of disease-causing viruses and bacteria). In lupus, antibodies attack normal tissue; potential targets for attack include the skin, joints, kidneys, brain, heart and lungs. In fact, this occurs in all healthy people to some extent. There is nothing bizarre about the autoantibodies or the inflammation of lupus; it is simply a matter of imbalance.
  2. Approximately 1.5 million Americans have some form of lupus, and according to the Lupus Foundation of America, because some cases go undiagnosed, that number is probably higher. Women constitute at least 90 percent of lupus cases. Lupus is more common in African-Americans, American Indians and Asians than in Caucasians.
  3. There are several types of lupus that have specialized names: systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), which can affect almost any organ system in the body; primary cutaneous lupus (the most common form is discoidal lupus) involving chiefly the skin; drug-induced general lupus, a temporary reaction to certain drugs; and neonatal lupus, which occurs in babies born to mothers who had autoantibodies. A diagnosis of any of these types of lupus can be confusing because it can be serious and life threatening but is often mild to moderate in most people, especially with careful diagnosis and treatment.
  4. The diversity of symptom sort and severity will create lupus troublesome to diagnose. Mild cases can go undiagnosed for years, and no single lab test can detect the disease. It is important to understand that a positive antinuclear antibodies (ANA) test alone does not give a person a diagnosis of lupus.
  5. SLE symptoms tend to wax and wane. Patterns of inactive illness and lupus “flares” return and go. Lupus may be unpredictable; symptoms further because the flare cycle might modification at any time.
  6. If you have a parent, child or sibling with lupus, your risk of developing the disease is somewhat increased, but it is not usually a very high risk and is not considered enough to warrant testing in the absence of symptoms. A positive ANA is common in members of the family of individuals with lupus and doesn’t essentially mean they’re going to develop lupus.
  7. Many women with lupus can have healthy babies with proper diagnosis and management.
  8. Exposure to ultraviolet radiation|ultraviolet illumination|UV|actinic radiation|actinic ray} light will result in a rash and worsen different lupus symptoms. If you have lupus, wear protective clothing and use sunscreen (SPF 30 or greater) when outdoors, and remember that some UV light penetrates glass, including car windows. Try to use sunscreen that protects against both UVA and UVB light. Studies indicate that sunscreens that contain ecamsule (Mexoryl) additionally to SPF block of sixty or higher may be notably effective for light-sensitive patients.
  9. A chronic, unpredictable, waxing and waning illness is extraordinarily stressful. It may help to develop a plan for dealing with stressful situations that includes a support system of family and friends, health care professionals and community organizations. It is important to pace yourself, but it is equally important not to put your entire life on hold.
  10. Lupus is not preventable or curable, but symptoms can be treated and flares minimized through medications and reasonable lifestyle modifications.

Key Q&A

  1. What causes lupus?The system of an individual with lupus is unbalanced, and this results in excess targeting of traditional tissue, inflicting inflammation, fever, painful joints, rashes and alternative issues. Virtually all general lupus patients have autoantibodies in their blood at concentrations which will be detected by workplace tests.
  2. What are my risks for having lupus?There is no way to predict who will get lupus and who won’t. Women of childbearing age comprise the vast majority of cases, and the disease occurs more frequently in African-Americans, American Indians and Asians than in Caucasians. Lupus seems to result from a combination of genes and environment. Experts assume folks could inherit a predisposition to developing lupus, however not lupus itself. People who inherit this predisposition may develop the disease after they come in contact with something that triggers it, such as a virus or medication.
  3. Is there anything I can do to prevent lupus?No. The unwellness is treatable and flares square measure governable, however nobody has discovered suggests that of limiting your possibilities of developing the unwellness.
  4. What are the most common symptoms of lupus?The a lot of common symptoms of lupus embody joint pain, arthritis, unexplained fever, extended or severe fatigue, skin rashes, anemia and kidney damage. Other symptoms embody medicine issues, like seizures, blood clotting problems, light sensitivity, hair loss, Raynaud’s syndrome (fingers turning white or blue in the cold) and mouth or nose ulcers.
  5. Is lupus curable?Lupus is not curable, but it is treatable. Your health care professional can prescribe medications to alleviate symptoms, such as pain and inflammation. You can take action as well, by eating right, exercising, avoiding sunlight and getting plenty of rest.
  6. Is it safe to have a baby even though I have lupus??Less than 20 percent of lupus pregnancies end in miscarriage or stillbirth and about 25 percent are premature births. Preeclampsia is a potentially life-threatening condition that seems to occur more frequently in lupus patients. The risk for these outcomes increases if you have antiphospholipid antibodies. The good news is that appropriate treatments and specialized care from a high-risk OB team can markedly increase the odds for a successful and safe pregnancy. One to 2 percent of babies born to mothers with certain autoantibodies (SSA-Ro and/or SSB-La) are born with neonatal lupus, a condition that often resolves itself within three to six months. If you have these antibodies, you may need a fetal echocardiogram during your pregnancy. In most cases, this will lead to reassurance that the baby is fine.
  7. What drugs are available to treat lupus?Drugs prescribed for lupus include nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents, such as aspirin or ibuprofen; acetaminophen; belimumab (Benlysta), a new monoclonal antibody; antimalarials such as hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil) and chloroquine (Aralen); corticosteroids such as prednisone or methylprednisolone; immune suppressants such as azathioprine (Imuran, Asasan); methotrexate (Rheumatrex, Trexall); mycophenolate mofetil (CellCept); cytotoxic drugs such as cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan) and anticoagulants such as heparin (Calciparine, Liquaemin) and warfarin (Coumadin). Topical medications such as steroids and nonsteroidal T cell inhibitors (tacrilimus, pimecrilimus) can be helpful for skin lesions.
  8. How can flares be prevented or the symptoms lessened?A lupus flare will occur for no discernible reason, although some patients believe that they have experienced trigger
  9. If some of my hair falls out, will it grow back?Generalized hair loss is because of general lupus or the treatments. It is usually temporary and grows back. A severe flare could cause hair to be brittle and break off, but hair should grow normally after the flare subsides. If your hair loss occurs in patches on the scalp, find out whether advanced scarring is present: if so, hair is unlikely to grow back, but if not, it may regrow. Check with your health care professional to understand which situation is most likely to apply to you.If it is likely to be permanent hair loss, look for “alopecia” support sites. You’ll find many folks handling hair loss because of lupus or alternative diseases. Consider your options: They embody dynamical your haircut; carrying wigs, hats, scarves, turbans or hair weaves; trying hair growth products or hair replacement; or not bothering to conceal it at all. If you choose a wig, look for good quality and a color that suits your skin tone. A different hairstyle can conceal patches of hair loss, and a shorter cut can make thinning hair look fuller. Choose a method that flatters your facial form, whether or not it is the same as perpetually or rounder because of steroid treatment.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published.



Related posts