This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at U Ottawa chapter.
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Women of child-bearing age, between the ages of fifteen and forty-five are the most commonly affected by lupus. Lupus is a disease where the body becomes overactive and the immune system attacks healthy tissue. This results in inflammation, swelling and damage to joints, kidneys, blood, heart, lungs and skin. The immune system while under regular function, creates proteins called antibodies. Antibodies fight and protect against antigens such as bacteria and viruses. When the body is affected by lupus, the immune system is unable to differentiate between healthy tissue and antigens; leading the immune system to direct antibodies against healthy tissue. This causes swelling, tissue damage and pain.
The most common and serious form of lupus is systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). SLE can any organ in the body in a pattern that varies from person to person. It is a continuous sickness, once you are affected, you are affected for good. Although you may not be continuously sick, the disease is still lifelong. The immune system cannot tell the difference between the healthy tissues and foreign tissues, causing inflammation in numerous organs which causes the symptoms of lupus appear on the skin. It will appear like a rash all over the body, in a red-like colour.
What Causes Lupus?
The cause of the disease, is still unknown. What doctors do know is that lupus is an autoimmune disease. The antibodies are meant to protect us from foreign substances and destroy them. But with lupus, the antibodies attack the person’s own tissues causing inflammation that affect certain organs or tissues in SLE.
Who’s Targeted?
Lupus is eight to thirteen times more common to be found in women than in men. It is not rare, in fact, it is more common than leukemia. It is diagnosed worldwide. In Canada, the estimated amount of individuals with lupus is between fifteen thousand to fifty-thousand. In America, the estimated amount is five-hundred thousand.
Is It Contagious? Genetic?
It is not contagious, lupus is not an infection. Therefore, it cannot be passed on from person to person, like a common cold. It is not a form of cancer and there is no relationship between lupus and AIDS. It is not unusual to for a lupus patient to have a relative in their family that has lupus. About 0.4 to 5% of relatives of lupus patients may develop the disease themselves. Now before you start to panic, the odds of not having lupus while someone else in your family does is 95% or greater.
Is there a cure?
Unfortunately, there is no cure for lupus. Researchers who are studying lupus have made a drastic advance in our knowledge of SLE and the research still continues. Although there is no cure yet, it can be controlled. Many patients go through a cycle where the disease is silent after it is brought under control. When it is under control and is symptom free, this period is called remission and it can last for several years.
Now that you know the basics of lupus, come out and show your support with Her Campus! Attend our fashion show happening on March 1st and together, we can strut away lupus! For more information on what you can do to help, or general information, go to www.lupuscanada.org .
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