Introduction
Imagine waking up to a butterfly-shaped rash on your face, or suddenly feeling fatigued and experiencing joint pains – those are signs of a mysterious and unusual autoimmune disease known as Lupus. Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, also known as just Lupus, is a chronic and long-lasting autoimmune disease that attacks its own tissues in the immune system instead of protecting the body from infection and diseases, according to the National Institutes of Health. The attack can cause inflammation and in some cases, permanent tissue damage to the skin, joints, heart, lungs, kidneys, circulating blood cells, and the brain. This article discusses the causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and steps to take.
Causes and Symptoms
The symptoms can vary from person to person, and can range from mild to severe. A person can just have one of the symptoms affecting their body, while some can have many symptoms in their body. The symptoms can come and go, and for some people, new symptoms are developed over time. The most typical symptoms are arthritis (which causes painful and swollen joints, and morning stiffness), fatigue, a rash appearing across the nose and cheeks (known as a butterfly rash), hair loss, sensitivity to the sun, dizziness, headaches, etc. The causes can differ from person to person, but the most common cause can be genes (someone from your family also had lupus), exposure to some bad environments (smoke, sunlight, etc. – it might trigger lupus), and immune and inflammatory influences.
Diagnoses
It is important to go to a doctor for this one and to not rely on Google only, so go and speak to your doctor about the symptoms that you are experiencing. Sometimes, lupus is hard to diagnose because it can mimic other disorders and diseases, so always be transparent with your doctor about this. A doctor can diagnose you with lupus if you are asked about your medical history and symptoms, if your family members has lupus or any other autoimmune disease, if you have performed a complete physical exam, if the doctor has taken samples of your blood, if the doctor has taken urine samples for protein levels, and if the doctor has performed a biopsy of your skin or kidney.
Treatments and Medication
The lupus disease will be treated according to your symptoms, but the main goal and purpose of treatment and medication is to get better, to be able to manage the symptoms, to prevent and limit flares, to prevent or slow organ damage, to maintain the lowest level of disease activity, and to improve the quality of life. Treatments include anti-inflammatory medication, corticosteroids (to help lower inflammation in the body), special diets, nutritional supplements, ointments and creams, and many more – please, don’t use them in excess and only consume what the doctor has prescribed.
How to Live with Lupus
Living with this disease can be hard, emotionally and physically. At times, you feel like you are on your own on this journey, and that no one (family, friends, colleagues) can understand what you are going through. A good place to start is by working with your doctor and coming up with ways to get the best treatment plan and to take the prescribed medication. Here are several things and ways to deal and live with lupus: learn to recognise the symptoms and warning signs, eat a healthy well-balanced diet, exercise, quit smoking, protect yourself from the sun, reach out to online communities who also have lupus, ask for help when needed, lower your stress, and most importantly, take a break from focusing on the disease. Get your mind off the disease – just live and continue doing the things that you love.
Conclusion
The way things look, it looks like any other disease. It is best to not dwell on it and think gloomy things. Accept it and move on – get healthy, stay active, and please, just keep living. Don’t let it rule you, you rule it. Your family, friends, and even your doctor are there to support you and to make sure that you do the right things. Just keep living. There is even a day dedicated to celebrating and making people aware of this disease – good people, mark the 10th of May as the day we make awareness of the Lupus disease.
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