What is lupus??

Hello everyone,

Here is some information on Lupus that have here at home. The type of Lupus I have SLE. I hope all you read it all..Take care and God Bless..

Cathy Hernandez

Ps I know it's long but it's good information about the types of lupus.

"Lupus" Is the Latin word for wolf and it refers to severe rash on the face of patients that looks like animal bites. The term "lupus" is now more often uses for a dieseas that affects the entire body called systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). However there are several forms of lupus besides SLE including chronic cutaneous (discoid) lupus that doesn't affect other organs, drug induced lupus that completely goes away when the offending drug is removed, neonatal lupus that affects newborns, and relatively mild diseased called subacute lupus syndrome.

TYPES OF LUPUS

Discoid lupus is a skin disease that affects the face, scalp, ears and arms. It causes considerable scarring and may produce increased or decreased pigment in the central areas of the rash. It may cause permanent hair loss usually in patches. This condition exists as either an isolated skin disease or may be one of the disease mainifestations of SLE. It's more commonly seen in African-Americans than Caucasian.

SLE is the classic example of a systemic autoimmune disease. It can affect every organ system but most commonly it damages the skin, joints, blood components, and the kidney. No two persons with SLE will have exactly the same symptomos and there is a wide spectrum ranging from relatively mild symptoms to a severe life-threatenting disease. Not all symptoms are present at the onset of the disease and it is typical for new organ systems to be affected over a period of months or years. The severity of SLE waxes and wanes and there may be periods when the disease is completely queit (remission) and other times when the symptoms are active(flare up). The disease affects women 9 times more frequently than men. It typically starts after puberty usually in the 20s and 30s.

The skin is one of the most commonly affected organs in SLE and the classic sign of this disease is the butterfly rash or malar rash. it is a flat or slightly raised reddish rash most prominently on the cheeks bu sparing the region near the crease of the nose. Sun sensitivity is commmon and it causes a raised red rash that typically involves the V-region of the neck and the forearms and other areas exposed to the sun. Discoid rashes (described above) are commonly seen in SLE. SLE can also cause a diffuse thinning of the scalp that is not scarring. Sometimes the blood vessels in the skin become inflamed and occluded and this causes bleeding under the skin, hives, or damage to the tissue resulting in shallow ulcers or rarely gangrene of a digit. These conitions are called cutaneous vasculitis. Canker sores in the mouth and nose called aphthous ulcers are common feature of SLE. They are typically painless and may also affect the gum margins and the tongue.

Joint Aching,Pain, Swelling and restricted movement are very common signs of SLE. The arthritis may cause deformity in the fingers that resembles rheumatoid arthritis but the bones are rarely damaged. Tendons can become inflamed and rarely they can
eak spontaneously. The muscles may be painful and tender when they are inflamed; prolonged inflammation can cause muscle weakness and wasing.

The Kidney is affected in about 50% of Caucasian and 75% of African- American SLE patients. It has the most serious impact on survival (see below). Its effects are not immediately felt by the patient, but gradually with leakage of protein and blood and damage to the filtration fuction of the kidney the patient feels lethargic and bloated, with edema in the legs, elevated blood pressure and marked weight gain.

The Lung Lining can become inflamed leading to accumulation of fluid and pleuritic pain lasting days to weeks. The heart lining can also become inflamed causing chest pain and shortness of
eath. Involvement of the
ain commonly causes confusion, memory problems and headaches. More seruous problems include stroke,seizures, bleeding the retine and psychosis. The spinal coard and nerves can be in flamed causing numbness and tingling and weakness in the arms and legs.

Mild Anemia is the most common abnormality in the blood and is linked to the chronic illness of SLE. Once in a while a more severe anemia is caused by actual
eakdown of red blood cells due to a antibody against the red cell mem
ance (hemolytic anemia). Similarly antibodies can attack platelets reducing teh platelet count and causin spontaneous bleeding. A complete shut-down of the bone marrow (aplastic anemia) is the most serious life-threatening outcome, but it is fortunately rare.

Drue-induced Lupus erythematosus affects 15,000 to 20,000 people annually in the US. They symptoms are directly caused by certain drusgs taken by patients and they resolve completely when these drugs are stopped. the most common drugs are hydralazine, a drug used to treat high blood pressure, and procainamide, a drug used to suppress irregular heart rhythms. Many other drugs are associated with drug-induced lupus including chlorpromazine,isoniazid, methyldopa, quinidine and sulfasalazine. They symptoms include join and muscle aches and pains joint swelling, inflammation of the heart and lung lining with fluid accumulation, and fever.

Neonatal lupus affects newborns whose mother may have SLE or may have no symptoms, but carry certain anibodies that can cross the placenta and damage the fetus. These are the maternal anti-Ro (anti-SSA) antibodies and they can cause a transient ras or permanent damage to the conduction system fo the infants's heart causing a heart block. i/i

dear cathy.thank you soo much for your help about lupus.nice info!!! how are you? how is your health? i/i

i hope you are ok cathy. keep us posted on you.

*shannon* i/i

Hello there,

I am doing a little bit better, I have my good days and bad ones more I like to count, right now I am just resting like that doctor order and trying to take care of myself...He wants me to take a trip to get away from stress but I don't thing that's going to happen anytime soon...

Cathy Hernandez i/i

I am glad you feel a little better, Don't forget we're still working on doing something after the cruise is over. I just hope it will work out this time lol

You should see if theres any classes or some clubs in your area you can join or volunteer for community service like boys and girls club or something. I know thats not a trip but it might help you get away from being stressed and also

something like that will help you get more job experiance.

My roomate has lupus and she deals with the same things as you so I can understand where you are coming from. When my roomate is not at work she does work at the art musuem and she told me that she's not as stressed when she's there and helps her feel better when she's helping others. i/i

_________________
Jack Sparrow (empties bottle of rum) Why is the rum always gone?
Jack Sparrow: (stands up and staggers drunkenly) Oh... that's why.

Jennifer

i am glad too dear cathy that you feeling more better!!

more rest,stress is a enemy for lupus.i hope all will be ok!!

my members whith lupus from my group is a soo suffering but how i understand too those i ll try to help very strongly,and they are soo happy that i created of my group,a puting much new for fighting whith that killer.my prairers to all living whith lupus!!!sincerely whith support julia.

good luck dear cathy!! i/i