Lupus as Common Dieseas

General History of Disease

Lupus was originated in 400 BC by a man named Hippocrates and he has records of patients with the butterfly rash. Lupus was first seen in Greece.

Causes of Disease

Lupus is not a contagious disease but you can get it through genetics because if a family member has it they can pass the genes along to you. You can get lupus through environmental factors such as stress, too much exposure to UV, from viruses, and certain toxins. You can also get lupus through hormones.

Symptoms of Disease

Symptoms of lupus include butterfly rashes on your face, loss of appetite, loss of your hair, fever, fatigue, photosensitivity, swelling of your joints, pain in your muscles, pain in your chest, swelling, ulcers in your mouth, raynaud’s phenomenon, and chorea.

Treatments of Disease

When you have lupus your doctor may prescribe medications such as NSAIDs, corticosteroids, immune system suppressing drugs, hydroxychloroquine, and benlysta. Your doctor may also suggest that you change to a more healthy lifestyle and suggest you eat healthy and be involved in physical activity.

Outlook for Disease

If you have lupus unfortunately it does not have a cure. In the United States there are over 200,000 cases per year of lupus. There are many famous people who are known to have lupus. These celebrities that have lupus are Selena Gomez, Lady Gaga, Toni Braxton, Nick Cannon, Seal, Kristen Johnson, Trick Daddy, Shannon Boxx, and Maurissa Tancharoen.

Diagnosis of Disease

If your doctor suspects you have lupus they do tests such as complete blood count tests, erythrocyte sedimentation rate tests, urine tests, antibody tests, skin biopsy tests, and kidney biopsy tests. Back when lupus was first originated they mainly looked to see if people had the butterfly rash and would make a conclusion on whether or not you had lupus.

Incidence of Disease

The lupus foundation estimates that there are at least 5 million cases of lupus worldwide. Lupus is most common in females but that does not mean that men cannot get lupus because they can but their risks are just at a lower rate. There is said to be around 16,000 new cases of lupus each year. Not only is lupus more common in females but it’s even more common in women of color. Lupus is a widespread disease that takes more time to get awareness for because it takes around 6 months for people to become diagnosed. Lupus is known to be more common in Asian and African people that live in industrialized countries.

Related research

Lupus erythematosus has been around for longer than the 4th century. Lupus was discovered by Hippocrates in 400 BC and mainly affects women. The cause for lupus erythematosus is still unknown and it has no cure. When you have lupus you’ll face symptoms such as stabbing pain in your muscles, anemia, fever, fatigue, malaise, hair loss, rashes, and dry mouth.

Lupus can also cause anxiety, blood in your urine, clinical depression, face rash, flare, headache, stiff joints, raynaud’s syndrome, light sensitivity, weight loss, and swelling. There’s been about 5 million cases of lupus in the world. To treat lupus you can take anti-inflammatory drugs, antimalarial drugs, corticosteroids, immunosuppressive drugs, anticologants, monoclonal antibodies, repository corticotropin injections, and some people also get chemotherapy to help treat their lupus. Anyone can get lupus but it is most common in African American, Asian American, Hispanic, Native American, and Pacific Islander women who are 15 to 44 years old. Lupus can be passed down through families and the first symptoms you face is extreme fatigue, joint pain, and butterfly rash. There are 4 different types of lupus such as systemic lupus, cutaneous lupus, drug induced lupus, and neonatal lupus.

In systemic lupus it affects your heart, lungs, kidneys, or brain. In cutaneous lupus it only affects your skin. In drug induced lupus it occurs when you overly use certain types of medicine. In neonatal lupus it’s rare and affects the fetus and after birth these symptoms usually only last for 6 months and have no lasting effects. There’s many diseases that come along with lupus. These diseases are autoimmune thyroid disease, celiac disease, myasthenia gravis, antiphospholipid syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, polymyositis, dermatomyositis, scleroderma, and sjögren's disease.

When you have lupus it attacks your immune system and your body cannot tell the difference between unwanted substances, antigens, and healthy tissue. When diagnosing lupus it can be very hard to determine because a lot of the symptoms of lupus are very similar to other illnesses. Doctors use tests such as biomarkers, blood tests, urine tests, tissue biopsies, imaging tests, and monitoring tests. When you have lupus it’s recommended that you workout regularly, avoid the sun, avoid stressful situations, apply cold and heat, and relax.

Diseases Related to Lupus

When you have lupus a lot of other diseases may come along with it such as autoimmune thyroid disease. Autoimmune thyroid disease is when your immune system attacks your thyroid. When you first get autoimmune thyroid disease the first noticeable sign is a swollen throat. Autoimmune thyroid disease has many symptoms such as fatigue, sensitivity to coldness, constipation, paleness, dryness of your skin, brittle nails, a puffy face, loss of hair, tongue enlargement, weight gain, achy muscles, depression, and memory lapses.

Many doctors don’t know what causes autoimmune thyroid disease and believe that your age, sex, or hereditary affects your chances of getting autoimmune thyroid disease. Your sex affects it because women are more likely to get autoimmune thyroid disease rather than males. Your age affects it because if you are middle aged you are more likely to get it. Your hereditary affects it because if your family is known for having autoimmune diseases or even having autoimmune thyroid disease you are more likely to get it. Doctors use tests such as hormone tests and antibody tests to check to see if you have autoimmune thyroid disease. When treating autoimmune thyroid disease your doctor may prescribe you with medications but if they don’t see anything abnormal then they might just wait and see what happens.

If you think that you may have autoimmune thyroid disease you can make sure you are aware of your pre appointment restrictions and prepare yourself for tests, you can write down the specific symptoms that you are facing, you can write down personal information that could be important to your doctor, you can list all the medications that you take, you can bring someone along with you to your appointment such as a family member or a friend, and lastly if you have any questions you can write them all out so you do not forget to ask your doctor about them.

When you go to your doctor he may ask you questions like what are your symptoms, how long have you been experiencing these symptoms, have you noticed any changes in your mood recently, have you changed in appearance relating to weight gain or dryness of your skin, has your voice changed at all, if your bowel habits have changed, do you have achy joints or muscles, are you noticing any sensitivity to coldness, have you been forgetful, and if any of your family members have autoimmune thyroid disease.

When you have lupus a lot of other diseases come along with it such as celiac disease. Celiac disease is an immune disease that causes you to not be able to ingest gluten because it destroys their small intestine. Many people who have celiac disease are affected in different ways. If you have celiac disease you may face pain in your abdomen, belching, diarrhea, vomiting, indigestion, heartburn, fat in stool, you may have bone loss, become malnourished, have fatigue, slowed growth, puberty is delayed, cramps, itching, weight loss, lactose intolerance, and rashes. Celiac disease is a genetic disease. If doctors suspect that you may have celiac disease they will run tests. Doctors run serology tests and genetic tests and they also use endoscopy and capsule endoscopy. The treatment for celiac disease is just goi

ng on a gluten free diet and taking medications. If you have celiac disease you need to be cautious of the foods you are putting into your body and you need to check to make sure that there is not any hidden gluten that could harm your body. Many foods such as modified food starch, some medications, vitamin or mineral supplements, herbal supplements, lipstick products, toothpaste or mouthwash, envelopes, stamp glue, and playdoh all have hidden amounts of gluten.

When you have lupus a lot of diseases come along with it such as myasthenia gravis. Myasthenia gravis is when your muscles are weak and fatigued under voluntary control and it’s caused when the nerves and muscles communication with each other start to breakdown. If you have myasthenia gravis there is no cure but you can get treatment that helps make your symptoms less severe. If you have myasthenia gravis you may have symptoms such as weak muscles, droopy or lazy eyelids, blurry vision, facial expression may start changing, swallowing problems, difficulty breathing, speech may become impaired, or weaks limbs. Myasthenia gravis is common in males and females.

If you are a female who is under 40 years of age then you are more likely to get myasthenia gravis. If you are a male who is older than 60 years of age then you are more likely to get myasthenia gravis. Myasthenia gravis is caused by antibodies or your thymus gland. If your doctor suspects that you have myasthenia gravis then they may run tests such as physical examinations, neurological examinations, edrophonium tests, blood tests, diagnostic imaging, pulmonary function testing, and electrodiagnostics.

When you have lupus a lot of other diseases come along with it such as antiphospholipid syndrome. Antiphospholipid syndrome is when your immune system attacks the normal proteins in your blood and produces antibodies that make your blood clot. If you have antiphospholipid syndrome there is no cure but you can get medications that help prevent blood clots or keep them from getting larger. If you have antiphospholipid syndrome you may experience things such as blood clots in your legs, miscarriages, stillbirths, rashes, strokes, transient ischemic attack, chronic headaches, cardiovascular diseases, and bleeding.

There are many factors that play into the role of getting antiphospholipid syndrome. If you are a woman you have a greater risk of getting antiphospholipid syndrome rather than men. If you have another autoimmune disease you have a greater chance of getting antiphospholipid syndrome. If you have certain diseases or infections like AIDS, HIV, syphilis, hepatitis, or lyme disease you have a greater chance of getting antiphospholipid syndrome. If you take certain types of medication it can raise your chances of getting antiphospholipid syndrome. Lastly your family history plays a big role in your chance of getting antiphospholipid syndrome.

When you have lupus a lot of diseases come along with it such as rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that causes you to have pain in your joints. Treatment for rheumatoid arthritis works more efficiently if you detect the rheumatoid arthritis early on. If you have symptoms such as pain in joints, swelling of your joints, stiffness of your joints, or loss of joint function there’s a large possibility that you may have rheumatoid arthritis and you should visit your doctor.

To test to see if you have rheumatoid arthritis they will run tests such as blood tests, imaging tests, ultrasounds, x-rays, or an mri. If you have rheumatoid arthritis then there is no cure but you can do treatments such as medication, home remedies, changes in your diet, and exercise that can help to lessen the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. There’s many risk factors that play into getting rheumatoid arthritis such as being a woman making your chances higher than being a man or a family history of rheumatoid arthritis.

When you have lupus a lot of diseases come along with it such as polymyositis. Polymyositis is when you have weakness in both sides of your body. Polymyositis is more common in black women who are in their 30s, 40s, and 50s. If you have weakness in your shoulders, hips, thighs, arms, or neck you should seek medical attention. If you have polymyositis there is no cure but you can get treatments that help to lessen your symptoms.

When you have lupus a lot of diseases come along with it such as dermatomyositis. Dermatomyositis is when your muscles are weaks and you have changes in your skin. If you have symptoms such as skin rashes around your eyes, red bumps near your joints, weaknesses in your muscles, pain in joints, and discolored skin you could possibly have dermatomyositis. If you have dermatomyositis there is no cure but you can take medication, go to physical therapy, exercise, heat therapy, and get rest to help lessen the symptoms.

When you have lupus a lot of diseases come along with it such as scleroderma. Scleroderma is when your body makes too much protein collagen and it affects your skin, connective tissue, and your organs. If you have symptoms such as hardened skin, fingertip sores, red spots on your face, red spots on your chest, patches on you skin, swallowing issues, swelling of your joints, weak muscles, dry mouth, dry eyes, short breaths, cramping in your stomach, heartburn, weight loss, and diarrhea you should seek medical attention because you may have scleroderma. If your doctor suspects you have scleroderma they will run tests such as imaging tests, blood tests, gastrointestinal tests, lung function tests, or heart tests. If you have scleroderma there is not sure but you can get treatments that help to lessen your symptoms.

When you have lupus a lot of diseases come along with it such as sjögren's disease. Sjögren's disease is an autoimmune disease that dries your eyes and mouth. If you are experiencing symptoms such as pain in joints, loss of tastes, pins and needles feelings in your hands, cavities, dryness, impaired speech, swallowing difficulties, dry cough, dry skin, dry eyes, or stiffness in body you need to seek medical attention immediately because you may have sjögren's disease. There is no cure for sjögren's disease so you can only do treatments to lessen your symptoms. If your doctor suspects you have sjögren's disease they may take blood tests, eye tests, imaging tests, or biopsy tests.