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Systemic Lupus Erythematosus


Zikeya Hickman
PID: 3217909
12/01/2014
HSC 3537 U01
Professor Ramalingam

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Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, more commonly known as Lupus, is an autoimmune


disease that can damage any part of the body. It is categorized as a chronic disease because it can
last longer than six weeks and more than likely years. It mainly develops in males and females in
their twenties and thirties.
Etiology
The cause of Lupus is yet to be determined. According to the American College of
Rheumatology, it is most likely due to inherited tendencies and things in your environment
(Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, 2013). It was also mentioned that people with Lupus may have
a glitch in their system where the body cannot clean old and damaged cells which leads to an
abnormal immune response.
Epidemiology
Over 240,000 people are diagnosed with Lupus in the Unites States. It is ten times more
likely for a woman to get it than a man. The overall prevalence is estimated to be about 1 per
1000. (Manson & Rahman, 2006) African American women have three times the number of
new cases than Caucasian women. They also happen to develop the disease at a much younger
age and have more serious symptoms (Fact Sheet Lupus, 2010). Asian, Hispanic, and Native
Americans are also more common in developing Lupus as well.
Pathogenesis & Pathophysiology
Lupus damages the body from the inside out by destroying the healthy tissue within the
body. The immune system usually creates antibodies that fight off unhealthy bacteria, but with
Lupus the immune system develops antibodies that do not know the difference between healthy
and unhealthy tissue. The immune system basically misfires therefore, it destroys the healthy

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tissue a person has and creates inflammation, damage, and pain to different parts of the body
(Lu?us Foundation of America, 2014).
Sign and Symptoms
Lupus is sometimes described as the disease of flares because the symptoms can get
worse making the person feel sick and then the symptoms can get better making the person feel
normal again (Lu?us Foundation of America, 2014). It is sort of like a roller coaster where you
keep going up and down, but you cannot seem to get off the ride.
Being that Lupus causes harm to different parts of the body, there are a variety of
symptoms that a person can get. Someone may experience fatigue, headaches, painful or swollen
joints, a fever, anemia, hair loss, ulcers within the mouth and nose, and fingers turning white or
blue when cold just to name a few. The most common trademark of Lupus is the butterfly-shaped
rash across the cheeks and nose that most people with Lupus experience.
Lupus is often confused with other diseases and illnesses because the symptoms caused
by Lupus can be related to arthritis, thyroid problems, or even lung, bone, or muscle diseases.
This fact gives Lupus the name of The Great Imitator (Lu?us Foundation of America, 2014).
Diagnostic Procedures
Being known as The Great Imitator, it is hard to determine if someone has Lupus or not
by just one test. The doctor will have to conduct numerous evaluations and tests in order to find
the primary cause of the symptoms one may be experiencing. Medical and family history will
have to be examined along with the persons current symptoms and laboratory test results.
Numerous doctor visits will be made because one test may come back positive one minute, then
negative the next time around (Lu?us Foundation of America, 2014).

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Usually, more than one doctor is involved in the diagnosis of Lupus to get opinions from
other doctors specialized in particular symptoms. The symptoms develop over time and may not
come all at once, so it may take months to a year to actually figure out the ultimate diagnosis of
Lupus.
Treatment
Currently, there is no cure for Lupus, but there are medications and treatments that can
help a person live a normal life with Lupus. There are nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs,
antimalarial drugs, corticosteroids and immune suppressants, biologics, and combination
treatment.
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are your basic medications that help ease swelling,
pain, and fever. A few examples would be Tylenol, Advil, Motrin, and Aleve. An antimalarial
drug commonly given to people with Lupus is hydroxychloroquine. It is used to treat malaria,
but it also helps relieve fatigue, rashes, joint pain, mouth sores, and possibly blood clotting due
to a Lupus flare. Corticosteroids and immune suppressants help people with Lupus if they are
experiencing extreme problems such as kidney, heart, or lung problems. This medication is only
used for people that need a more aggressive treatment to suppress the immune system (Systemic
Lupus Erythematosus, 2013). Combination treatment is also used if one particular medication is
not working too well alone. The drug can be combined with another to relieve multiple
symptoms at once.
Biologics is a new treatment that involves drugs that are used for other rheumatic
diseases. They have been tried and tested on people with Lupus to hopefully come up with a
combination to help people with Lupus gain control back over their lives (Systemic Lupus
Erythematosus, 2013).

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References
Fact Sheet Lupus. (2010, October). Retrieved from Mational Institutes of Health:
permanent.access.gpo.gov
Lu?us Foundation of America. (2014). Retrieved from Lupus: www.lupus.org
Manson, J. J., & Rahman, A. (2006). Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. Orphanet Journal of Rare
Diseases, 3-5.
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. (2013, February). Retrieved from American College of
Rheumatology: www.rheumatology.org

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