Lupus

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Lupus

• Caitlin RussellScience, Period 3January 1, 2002

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What is Lupus?

• An autoimmune disease
• When your body attacks itself
• Your body can not tell the difference between
  foreign materials (antigens) and its own cells
  and tissues.
• The immune system orders the antibodies to attack
  itself.
• The auto-antibodies react with the bodies own
  antigens. This reaction forms immune complexes
  which build up.

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What Causes Lupus?

• Cause unknown, but suspect
• Genetic factors
• Environmental factors

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What Causes Lupus? (contd)

• Genetic causes
• Hereditary, but no known gene to cause it
• Some people more genetically prone to Lupus
• 5 of children with parents who have it develop
  Lupus
• 10 of Lupus patients have a close relative with
  it too
• Chromosomes 1 and 6 associated with Lupus in
  certain families

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What Causes Lupus? (contd)

• Environmental causes
• Infections
• Antibiotics
• Ultra-violet light
• Extreme stress
• Certain drugs

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Symptoms of Lupus

• Flares are common
• Periods where symptoms are intense, then die down
• Most common symptoms
• Achy joints
• Occurs in 95 of Lupus patients
• Fever more than 100 degrees F
• 90
• Arthritis
• 90
• Prolonged or extreme Fatigue
• 81

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Symptoms of Lupus (contd)

• Skin rashes
• 74
• Anemia
• 71
• Other symptoms
• Kidney involvement, pain in chest, deep
  breathing, butterfly shaped rash on cheek and
  nose, sun or light sensitivity, hair loss,
  abnormal blood clotting, Raynauds phenomenon,
  seizures, mouth and nose ulcers.

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Diagnosis of Lupus

• Difficult to diagnose Lupus
• Lupus symptoms mirror other diseases symptoms,
  and Lupus symptoms often come and go
• No single lab test to diagnose Lupus
• American College of Rheumatology (ACR) issued a
  list of 11 symptoms and tests to help diagnose
  Lupus patients.
• A person with Lupus experiences at least four of
  these symptoms or prove positive to at least 4 of
  these tests. The symptoms do not have to occur
  at the same time though.

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Three Kinds of Lupus

• Discoid
• Systemic
• Drug-induced

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Discoid Lupus

• Affects only the skin
• Symptoms
• Rashes
• On face, neck, and scalp
• Diagnosis
• Examining a biopsy of the rash
• Diagnosed when biopsy shows that the skin without
  the rash contains things that are not normal.

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Discoid Lupus (cont.)

• 10 of Discoid Lupus patients develop Systemic
  Lupus also.
• Can not be prevented or predicted
• Treatment of Discoid Lupus will not prevent
  Systemic Lupus from developing

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Systemic Lupus

• Most severe and common type of Lupus
• Can effect any part of the body
• Symptoms
• All symptoms apply
• Diagnosis
• Observing medical history and symptoms
• Using the list made by the ACR
• Blood tests

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Drug-Induced Lupus

• Cause
• By taking certain drugs
• Hydralazine
• Procainamide
• Do not have to take drugs to get DI Lupus
• Symptoms
• Similar to Systemic symptoms
• Diagnosis
• The List of 11 symptoms by ACR
• DI Lupus usually stops after they stop taking the
  drug

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Interview of a Lupus Patient

• How old were you when you got Lupus? And what
  kind of Lupus do you have?
• I was diagnosed with Discoid Lupus when I was 36.
  I had a sun sensitive spot that was red and
  itchy on my forehead. A biopsy indicated Lupus,
  and I was told to stay out of the sun. My doctor
  also ran a test for systemic Lupus later. It was
  for antinuclear antibody, and it came back
  positive. The specialist didnt think I had
  systemic Lupus because I didnt have the
  symptoms. When I was 50 I was finally diagnosed
  with systemic Lupus. My specialist then said
  there had been indicators of Lupus

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Interview of a Lupus Patient

• since childhood. I had my thyroid removed when I
  was 15 an inflamed thyroid, and my first baby was
  premature. These are both symptoms of Lupus.
• Why did suspect you had Lupus? How does it effect
  your daily life?
• I was seeing my doctor for strept throat which I
  was tested for three times during a six month
  period and each came back negative. They found
  out I was anemic and put me on iron (which didnt
  help). I was exhausted and was seeing a
  dermatologist because my arm was broken out from
  Lupus. I started to have pain in my throat and
  upper chest. This was from pleurisy.

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Interview of a Lupus Patient

• They took more blood tests which pointed to
  Lupus. Also, my symptoms were those of Lupus.
  They sent me to a Lupus specialist who did more
  blood tests and put me on Prednisone. They did a
  test to see if Lupus would attack my major
  organs, and luckily, it came back negative.
• Do you know how you got Lupus?
• There is a possibility that it is a result of a
  genetic weakness, but it may also have been
  triggered by a severe reaction I had to a rabies
  vaccine when I was in my early 20s

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Interview with a Lupus Patient

• What are some of your most common symptoms?
• The symptom that bothers me most is fatigue (from
  anemia). I have to take blood tests every two
  months. I also have stiff joints, a common
  symptom, but it may be from osteoarthritis, not
  Lupus. I have to adjust my daily activity Level
  so I dont do too much in one day. I teach three
  days a week know instead of fulltime. I have to
  be careful about getting enough sleep. If I begin
  to get a cold, I take time off because it takes
  me longer to recover from illnesses. I have to
  work hard on being healthy because of this.

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Interview of a Lupus Patient

• What kind of medications do you take?
• I take Plaquenil which is an anti-malarial drug
  that fights fatigue. I also take Advil when I get
  stiff. I used to take Prednisone, but I dont
  have to anymore because my disease isnt as
  severe anymore as it used to be.
• Is there any research being done to find a cure
  or better treatment for Lupus?
• There are many groups doing research on the
  immune system which is a link to autoimmune
  diseases like Lupus. Also, since Lupus seems to
  attack mostly women, there are many groups trying
  to find a link between hormones and Lupus.

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The End