An Estimated 90% of People Diagnosed with Lupus are Women
Posted by on May 27, 2011 - 7:48am

Classic Butterfly Rash

Yet many people do not know what lupus is and how serious it can be.  Lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease that can affect various parts of the body, including the skin, joints, heart, lungs, blood, kidneys, and brain.  Normally the body's immune system makes proteins called antibodies that protect the body against viruses, bacteria and other foreign invaders. These foreign invaders are called antigens.

In an autoimmune disorder like lupus, the immune system cannot tell the difference between foreign substances and its own cells and tissues. The immune system then makes antibodies that, simply put, attack the body itself. This causes inflammation, pain and damage to various organs.

Inflammation is considered the primary feature of lupus. Inflammation causes pain, heat, redness, swelling and loss of function, inside and/or outside the body.   For many people, lupus can be a manageable disease with relatively mild symptoms. For others, it may cause serious and even life-threatening problems.

Sometimes people with lupus experience a "flare." This occurs when some symptoms appear or get worse for short periods then disappear or get better. Even if you take medicine for lupus, you may find that there are times when the symptoms become worse. Learning to recognize that a flare is coming can help you take steps to cope with it. Many people feel very tired or have pain, a rash, a fever, stomach discomfort, headache, or dizziness just before a flare.  It is not infectious, rare or cancerous.

It’s estimated that more than 16,000 Americans develop lupus each year.  We do not know the cause, but scientists believe some people are predisposed to the disease.  In the United States, lupus is more common among African Americans, Asians, Hispanics, and Native Americans than Caucasians.

Symptoms of lupus include:

  • Muscle and joint pain
  • Fever greater that 100∘F
  • Prolonged or extreme fatigue
  • Anemia (low red blood cell count)
  • Kidney problems
  • Chest pain, especially when breathing deeply
  • Rashes especially on the face
  • Light sensitivity
  • Hair loss
  • Abnormal blood clotting
  • Eye problems (dry eyes, inflammation, rashes0
  • Seizures
  • Mouth or nose ulcers

To learn more about lupus visit:  Could I have Lupus. If you want to test your knowledge on lupus, take this QUIZ.

Benlysta Approved for Lupus
Posted by on March 13, 2011 - 1:02pm

First new lupus drug approved in 56 years.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)  approved Benlysta (belimumab) to treat patients with active, systemic lupus erythematosus who are receiving standard therapy, including corticosteroids, antimalarials, immunosuppressives, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

Prior to Benlysta, FDA last approved drugs to treat lupus, Plaquenil (hydroxychloroquine) and corticosteroids, in 1955. Aspirin was approved to treat lupus in 1948.

Lupus is a serious, potentially fatal, autoimmune disease that attacks healthy tissues. It disproportionately affects women, and usually develops between ages 15 and 44. The disease affects many parts of the body including the joints, the skin, kidneys, lungs, heart, and the brain. When common lupus symptoms appear (flare) they can present as swelling in the joints or joint pain, light sensitivity, fever, chest pain, hair loss, and fatigue.

Estimates vary on the number of lupus sufferers in the United States ranging from approximately 300,000 to 1.5 million people. People of all races can have the disease; however, African American women have a 3 times higher incidence (number of new cases) than Caucasian women.

Patients treated with Benlysta and standard therapies experienced less disease activity than those who received a placebo and standard of care medicines. Results suggested, but did not definitively establish, that some patients had a reduced likelihood of severe flares, and some reduced their steroid doses.

African American patients and patients of African heritage participating in the two studies did not appear to respond to treatment with Benlysta. The studies lacked sufficient numbers to establish a definite conclusion. To address this concern, the sponsor has agreed to conduct an additional study of people with those backgrounds to further evaluate the safety and effectiveness of Benlysta for this subgroup of lupus patients.

Those receiving Benlysta during clinical studies reported more deaths and serious infections compared with placebo. The drug should not be administered with live vaccines. The manufacturer is required to provide a Medication Guide to inform patients of the risks associated with Benlysta.

The most common side effects in the studies included nausea, diarrhea, and fever (pyrexia). Patients also commonly experienced infusion reactions, so pre-treatment with an antihistamine should be considered.

NIH: Lupus Fact Sheet

Overlooked or misdiagnosed conditions in women
Posted by on October 19, 2009 - 9:18am
Image: WOLDCnews.com

Image: WOLDCnews.com

CNN Health has just published a nice article outlining many conditions that can be overlooked in women, including polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and several autoimmune disorders such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and multiple sclerosis. Included in the article is a quote from Virginia Ladd, founder and executive director of the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association:

"More than 40 percent of women eventually diagnosed with a serious autoimmune disease have basically been told by a doctor that they're just too concerned with their health or they're a hypochondriac."

The resounding message of the article is to trust your (possibly irritable) gut; if you feel off somehow, keep pursuing the topic with your doctor or get a second opinion.

PS- Look for our blog entry on Wednesday about autoimmune disorders and X chromosome inactivation. It will be a more in-depth entry about the genetic reasons women are more at risk for these conditions.

Autoimmunity Disorders and Gender
Posted by on September 22, 2009 - 12:48pm

The NIH has a pretty cool monthly podcast called “Pinn Point on Women’s Health,” which is hosted by Dr. Vivian Pinn, director of the NIH’s Office of Research on Women’s Health. For September, the topic was Autoimmune Disease in women (NIH summary and directions for downloading the podcast can be found here.)

The topic is fascinating! Autoimmune diseases are those where the body , for whatever reason, starts fighting its own cells with an immune response in the same way it would if the cells were a foreign invader (bacteria, virus etc). Women are more likely to get a whole host of autoimmune diseases than men are, including multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and lupus. Apparently, out of all the people suffering from auto-immune diseases in the US, 80% are female. That’s a phenomenal bias for a condition that, on the surface at least, has no clear tie to gender. According to the research (great review here), our increased risk of getting these diseases is simply our great immune systems working against us. Apparently, our immune systems are so great that we’re less prone to infection and have a much greater antibody response to those little invaders that do get in. Unfortunately, our systems are so strong that they also tend to go into overdrive, leading to this attack of our own bodies. The culprits (or overachieving heroes, depending on how you look at it), are likely exactly what you’d expect: hormones or chromosomal influences. The hormone research actually shows that during pregnancy, women's immune systems switch to a far less aggressive regimen, likely to avoid attacking the fetus as an invader. This decreased immunity is the reason for the increased risk of pregnant women getting the flu that Alison mentioned, but it’s also the reason that many pregnant women notice a decrease in their symptoms of autoimmune disorders. I actually have/had a condition called tranverse myelitis, which is thought to be an autoimmune disorder; I also very rarely catch the normal seasonal bugs that float around the office, and I don’t think I’ve ever had the flu (knock on wood!). It’s kind of amazing to think that both the bad and the good stem from the same source: an incredibly strong immune system! Anyone else notice that same thing in his/her self, or anyone they know with autoimmune disorders?