What is the autoimmune disorder called Lupus
?
This disease, called Lupus, is sometimes announced with acute arthritis and baffling symptoms very similar to many other conditions. The group of diseases known as lupus actually belongs in the autoimmune category. But what exactly is an autoimmune disorder and what is lupus? We will explore this with some more detail in this article.
Since lupus is an autoimmune disorder we must first explore what an autoimmune disease is….a rather simple explanation would be that the body’s own defense mechanism know as the immune system creates antibodies that attack it owns cells, tissue, organs etc within the body. Seemingly the immune system that is affected by lupus does not recognize its own cells and tissue because it attacks as if it were a foreign invader or germ. Now, that we have a general idea of what an autoimmune disorder is let’s look at what Lupus is.
Lupus is a disease that can seem like many other diseases. This is because the onset of the disease often has vague symptoms that are very similar to many other diseases. It seems to be a bit wishy washy as the symptoms will come and go and the symptoms vary so widely. A person can often go undiagnosed for years while the suffering person just explains away some current illness as a passing fever or something they overdid. As the disease progresses there will be periods where there are many symptoms and other times when there are little to none. The person seeming to be in perfect health. But what parts of the body are affected by this disease?
There are many parts of the body affected by the various lupus disorders. This is because the tissues that are attacked become inflamed, swollen and painful. The antibodies from the immune system can attack any tissue to include the joints, muscles, and skin. It gets worse though because the immune system also rages a war against its own nervous system and blood vessels. The other muscles and organs that can be affected are the lungs, heart, and kidneys. With so many areas of the body being attacked there will be many many symptoms. Just a few symptoms are:
* Joint pain
* Loss of energy or fatigue
* Fever
* Skin rashes
* Weight loss or gain in a sudden manner
* Leg and or feet swelling
These are just a few of the symptoms that can occur as a result of lupus disease. As you can see these symptoms could be attributed to many other complications too. Lupus affects every person in a different way. This is due to its ability to attack so many various parts of the body. The resulting problems can be mild or they can even be life threatening. It would be wise to visit the doctor if you experience several of these symptoms. There are different types of lupus but this article has alluded to the most common form of the disease known as systemic lupus erythematosus. The other types of lupus are:
* Neonatal lupus is a very rare disease that unborn babies can acquire if their mom has SLE
* Systemic lupus erythematosus or SLE as discussed in this article
* Drug induced lupus erythematosus is induced by drugs and is not gender specific
* Lupus nephritis which relates to inflammation of the kidneys
* Discoid lupus erythematosus can turn into SLE and is known as a skin disorder
* Subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus is known by the skin lesions on patches of skin exposed to sunlight
While this autoimmune disease is incurable, the symptoms of lupus can be treated there by giving more comfort to the person suffering the many possible symptoms of this disease. A Lupus affected person who is involved in a well rounded comprehensive treatment program that supports the immune system can help to keep lupus under control and in a state of remission.
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