Archive for the 'Lupus' Category

Systemic lupus erythermatosus, commonly referred as lupus, is a chronic inflammatory disease which mostly affects women rather than men.

It is an auto immune disease which mainly attacks on various tissues, cells and organs of your body, causing damage and dysfunction to the immune system.

Systemic lupus is a chronic illness which is mainly characterized by periods depending up on the disease activity.

For some persons the activity of the disease can be minimal which can be treated with simple medications and for others it can create serious inflammatory problems.

This inflammation can mainly affect lungs, heart, blood vessels, joints, skin, liver, kidneys and nervous system.

The main cause behind this inflammation is still unknown. Depending up on the signs and symptoms, systemic lupus is categorized into different types [Identifying lupus type].

Discoid lupus erythermatosus: If the inflammation is mainly on the skin, then it is called cutaneous or discoid lupus. You can easily identify this inflammation with rashes on face, neck and also on the scalp. Very rarely, discoid lupus can lead to systemic lupus. It is not probable to predict who will develop the most serious form of inflammation.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is more common in women than men.

It is found that the ratio of SLE in women to men is nine to one. Although systemic lupus erythematosus is a rare disease, it is recognized globally.

The effect of systemic lupus erythematosus on the body involves various systems [Lupus symptoms].

The manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus on various body systems:

The manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus can develop in the form of waves called flares or flare-ups.

These flares develop differently in various body systems, including membranes, muscles and bones, skin, lungs, digestive system, kidneys, nervous system and blood.

Membranes

Membranes that surround the internal organs such as heart, lungs, and organs of abdomen get inflamed. The inflammation of serous membrane in SLE is known as serositis.

This condition in SLE patients can affect pericardium, the membrane of the heart. It also leads to the development of pleurisy, the swelling of the membrane of the lungs.

Muscles and bones

Joint pain is very common in patients with SLE. The pain can last for a longer period or can come and go periodically. Systemic lupus erythematosus can affect almost all joints in the body, but mostly it affects the joints of the wrists, hands, and knees. Once affected, both sides of the same joint will be affected.

Lupus is also referred to as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease that affects your immune system, which fights against the organisms that cause infections to your body.

It has been found that about nine out of ten people who have lupus are women.

If you are with lupus disease, then it slowly develops with lupus symptoms, which usually come and go.

In some rare cases, lupus can cause serious as well as life-threatening problems.

Actually, with lupus, your immune system loses its ability to differentiate the foreign substances with the body’s own cells and makes the mistake of attacking your body’s healthy cells.

Therefore, lupus can damage nearly any part of your body including your joints, skin, kidneys, heart, lungs, blood vessels, and brain. However, the lupus symptoms will vary from individual to individual where no two persons experience identical lupus symptoms. [Lupus type]

The lupus symptoms can range from mild to severe and can vary over time. The common lupus symptoms include muscle pain, strange fever, chest pain upon deep breathing, skin rashes, hair loss, sensitivity to the sun, swelling in legs or around eyes, painful joints, swollen glands, pale or purple fingers, fatigue, mouth ulcers, and weight loss.

You have been told that your skin rashes resemble lupus disease, where there is no cure.

Despite of the fact that there is no known cure for lupus disease, you have many treatments that give relief from lupus symptoms.

Lupus is a widespread and chronic autoimmune disease that mostly affects women.

If you are suffering with lupus disease, then it causes your immune system to turn against the body’s own cells, tissue, and organs. Immune system produces antibodies to fight against bacteria, viruses and other foreign organisms that cause infection.

It is fact that with the lupus disease, your immune system loses the ability to differentiate the foreign substances with the body’s own cells, organs as well as tissues and produces antibodies that attacks the body’s healthy tissue where inflammation and damages occurs to vital organs such as skin, joints, blood, heart, lungs, kidneys, and brain.

The reality is that lupus disease symptoms vary from person to person. No two people with lupus disease exhibit same symptoms.

The most common lupus symptoms are: skin rashes, achy joints, strange fever, arthritis, prolonged fatigue, anemia, swollen ankles, chest pain upon deep breathing, skin rashes across cheeks and nose sensitivity to sun, hair loss, abnormal blood clotting, pale or purple fingers, seizures, mouth ulcers.

Owing to the fact that it involves damages to the body’s own tissues, cells, and organs with the immune system’s disability in determining the foreign organisms (antigens) with the body’s own cells and tissue, lupus is defined as an autoimmune disease.

The immune system is responsible for producing proteins called antibodies to protect your body against viruses, bacteria, and other foreign organisms (antigens).

The lupus disease causes inflammation and damage to vital organs such as skin, joints, blood, heart, lungs, kidneys, and even the brain.

Lupus is a rare condition where majority of people affecting with are women. You as a woman can affect with this disease in many different ways depending on the type of lupus present.

The types of lupus are systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), discoid lupus erythematosus, drug-induced lupus and neonatal lupus.

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, (SLE) is the most common and serious type. Most often, the term “lupus” refers to the systemic form of the disease. The word “systemic” means the disease can affect many parts of the body.

The SLE causes a wide variety of unspecific symptoms, ranging from mild to severe. As no two people with SLE have identical lupus symptoms, it is very difficult to diagnose. Moreover, SLE often requires enduring combination treatments.