Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Lupus Bracelets And The Disease Itself

By Carmella Watts


Lupus is the name of a chronic inflammatory disease that is known to affect different areas of the body. Included in the list are kidneys, the blood, skin and joints. This condition can lead to the immune system to attack the very cells and tissues they were made to protect, resulting in a lot of pain and damage. As a show of support to those who have this affliction, lupus bracelets are sold in a lot of stores, both online and physical.

It can be a very mild but constant disease for a lot of people afflicted with it. In those cases, the symptoms are manageable and the pain and the discomforts are kept to a minimum. Sadly, there are more extreme cases where the symptoms cause tremendous amounts of pain and the life of the patient is legitimately in danger.

For all the trouble it causes, there is no clearly defined underlying cause. Within the medical community, this is what is referred to as an idiopathic illness. Attempts to understand it better have resulted in theories involving family histories of the disease although thus far, no definite genetic links have been documented.

Other than family history, other factors have been brought up in discussions. Some say long time usage of particular medications, prescribed or otherwise, can be a potential cause. Others say it is the exposure to sunlight in an excessive way that is to blame. Regardless of cause, a malfunctioning immune system is the root of the problem and may attack cells without any discrimination.

One type of the disease is the discoid, which is defined and identified by the rashes that appears. They normally appear on the face, the scalp and the neck. Hair will fall out in the areas where the rash is. Those on the face are often called butterfly rashes. Often lasting mere days, some can last months and years even.

Systemic lupus is the best known type. It also causes rashes but it affects a lot more organs like the heart, lungs, kidneys and even the nervous system. Those who have this may have just one or two organs that are affected, but others may have multiple issues.

Join paint, fever, fatigue and the decrease in organ function are a few symptoms of systemic lupus. There may be periods of remission and periods of activity. These activities are known as flares and may last for several days and will come and go without explanation.

Diagnosing the illness can be difficult due to its complexity. Certain things can be performed, such as biopsies and blood tests. There are times when the best thing to produce would be a complete medical history. This can determine whether or not any close family members have been diagnosed similarly in the past.

Unfortunately, there is no real cure that the medical community knows of. It is entirely possible for the flares to respond to the treatments, but just as often, they do not. Attempting to suppress the production of auto antibodies may be attempted with immune suppressing medication. The supporters of the afflicted often adorn their writs with lupus bracelets, but thus far, that is all they can manage.




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