| Living with lupus: when the body turns on itself
A U-M doctor explains what lupus is and how patients can manage the disease.
When Cynthia Nichols-Jackson woke up one day and could barely get out of bed because her joints hurt so badly she obviously knew something was wrong. But what she didn't realize was how serious it was.
"At about age 26, right after I graduated from nursing school, I woke up one morning and was unable to get out of bed," says Nichols-Jackson. "I rested all day and the following day I went to my doctor. He felt it was just a flu-like symptom, but I just never recovered."
Cynthia was later diagnosed with lupus, an autoimmune disease that causes the immune system to attack the body's own tissue and organs. As in Cynthia's case, lupus often is difficult to diagnose because its symptoms mimic other illnesses. However, according to Joseph McCune, M.D., Director of the Rheumatology Clinic at the University of Michigan Health System, diagnosing lupus has greatly improved over the past 30 years.
"In the past, because there were limited tests available to diagnose lupus, many patients were not diagnosed until they had already gravely damaged their organs," says McCune. "The ability to diagnose lupus, and the awareness of lupus among physicians, is much better than it used to be."
What is lupus?
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease. This means that your body's defenses against infection are attacking your own tissue, which causes inflammation. Areas of the skin or joints become painful, red, and swollen. Other parts of the body can also become inflamed, including the muscles, kidneys, nervous system, blood, lungs, and heart. Kidney disease affects 50 percent of lupus patients.
According to the Lupus Foundation of America, it is estimated that approximately 1.4 million Americans have a form of lupus. McCune says more women than men suffer with this disease.
"Lupus usually affects women who are of child bearing age," McCune says. "Women are 10 times more likely than men to be affected. And, in non-white Americans, the rate of lupus is two to three times more prevalent."
What are the symptoms of lupus and how is it diagnosed?
Lupus can take many forms and does not affect everyone in the same way. Some of the more common symptoms are:
• Fatigue and weakness
• Joint pain and swollen joints
• Rashes
• Baldness
• Sensitivity to sunlight
How is lupus treated?
There is no cure for lupus, but treatment is steadily improving. A variety of medications ranging from anti-inflammatory drugs (such as ibuprofen) to potent immune suppressive drugs may help. An important focus of lupus research being done at UMHS is focusing on reducing treatment side effects without compromising effectiveness. Learning to prevent heart disease in lupus patients is also a major research endeavor at UMHS.
Living with lupus
"Many patients with lupus can achieve satisfactory control of most aspects of their illness and lead relatively normal lives," says McCune. "We tell our patients to eat right and exercise and keep their weight down, control their blood pressure, and not to smoke."
Cynthia has learned to live with lupus. "I'm learning to eat not so much high fat foods and trying to exercise and increase my level of activity. This along with my medication is helping me remain healthy."
For more information, visit the following websites:
UMHS Health Topics - Lupus Erythematosus
http://www.med.umich.edu/1libr/aha/aha_lupus_crs.htm
UMHS - Antinuclear Antibodies Test (ANA)
http://www.med.umich.edu/1libr/aha/aha_antinucl_crs.htm
National Institutes of Health (NIAMS) - Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
http://www.niams.nih.gov
Lupus Foundation of America, Inc.
http://www.lupus.org
National Kidney Foundation
http://www.kidney.org
Written by Carrie Hagen |
