| The Lupus Alliance of America LI/Q Affiliate a not-for-profit foundation, has been helping those with lupus and their families since 1955. Our mission is to help those with lupus live better lives while we search for a cure. To find out more about us, become our myspace friend, or you can e-mail us at:info@lupusliqueens.org.
LUPUS FACTS
Over 2 million Americans have lupus; a disease where the immune system, for unknown reasons, becomes hyperactive and attacks normal tissues and organs. Lupus is a serious, life-threatening disease that affects more Americans than multiple sclerosis, cystic fibrosis, sickle cell anemia and leukemia. However, very few people know about this confusing and often difficult to diagnose disease.
Too few people understand the seriousness of this confusing and incurable disease, including the individuals who have it.
Lupus symptoms such as the following are often ignored because they mimic many other illnesses and diseases.
1. Achy and swollen joints
2. Unexplained fevers
3. Extreme fatigue
4. Hair loss
5. Skin rashes
6. Seizures
7. Mouth and nose ulcers
8. Chest pain
9. Memory loss
10. Sensitivity to the sun
Even doctors can be perplexed by this disease, and many people believe it is not life-treatening because many times the people who have lupus do not appear sick.
Lupus, can affect every organ in the body including the kidneys, lungs, heart, skin, muscles, brain and more. Many people who have lupus have been on chemotherapy to help stop their lupus from attacking their organs. Others take lifelong doses of steroids such as Prednisone which causes weight gain, mood swings, stunted growth and bone weakness. Many others take anti-malarial drugs such as Plaquenil which can cause eye disorders like glaucoma.
Most patients take more than 5 pills on a daily basis and see their doctor at least once a month. Most people with lupus have more than 4 doctors who help the many issues that arise when lupus attacks your body.
Children as young as 6 have been diagnosed with lupus, and 90% of the people with lupus are women between the ages of 15-50.
DIAGNOSING LUPUS
The following are criteria that doctors look for and use to diagnose lupus. Diagnosing lupus can be difficult. There is no single set of symptoms that is specific for lupus. Many of the lupus symptoms mimic other illnesses, are sometimes vague and may come and go. Currently, there is no single laboratory test that can determine if a person has lupus or not.
Diagnosis is usually made by a careful review of the patient’s entire medical history coupled with an analysis of the results obtained in normal routine laboratory tests and some specialized tests related to immune status.
Eleven criteria for the diagnosis of lupus were established by the American College of Rheumatology. A person must have four or more of these symptoms for a lupus diagnosis. The symptoms do not have to occur at the same time.
* Anti-Nuclear Antibody (ANA): Positive test for anti-nuclear antibodies in the absence of drugs known to induce it.
* Arthritis: Arthritic inflammation in two or more joints, not accompanied by marked deformity.
* Discoid Rash: Red, raised patches on any part of the body.
* Hematological Disorder: Low hemoglobin (hemolytic anemia); low white blood cell count (leukopenia); low lymphocyte count (lymphopenia); or low platelet count (thrombocytopenia). The leukopenia and lymphopenia must be detected on two or more occasions. The thrombocytopenia must be detected in the absence of drugs known to induce it.
* Immunologic Disorder: Commonly employed tests that reflect the immunologic disorder of lupus include: positive LE prep test, positive anti-DNA test, positive anti-Sm test, positive antiphospholipid antibodies or false positive syphilis test (VDRL).
* Malar Rash: A redness or rash on the face that may appear in a butterfly configuration on the cheeks.
* Neurologic Disorder: Seizures (convulsions) and/or psychosis in the absence of drugs or metabolic disturbances that are known to cause such effects.
* Oral Ulcers: Frequent ulcers in the nose or mouth, usually painless.
* Photosensitivity: Reaction to sunlight, resulting in the development of, or increase in, skin rash.
* Renal (Kidney) Disorder: Detected by excessive protein and/or cellular casts in the urine.
* Serositis: Pleuritis (pleurisy), inflammation of the membrane that lines the inside of the chest cavity surrounding the lungs and pericarditis, inflammation of the sac or lining surrounding the heart. | 
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