Vital Signs: Attacked From Within
Summary: Lupus is a disease that mainly affects women and develops during their childbearing years. It's a disease where the antibodies produced by our bodies attack our immune systems, causing many different problems. Some of the symptoms are these: a red, raised rash on your face called a butterfly rash (the most common symptom), arthritis, and hair loss. Some of the more serious symptoms are kidney damage, lung inflammation, and paralysis. To be classified as lupus according to the American College of Rheumatology, a patient must "show at least four of eleven symptoms since the onset of the disease." Treatment is still relatively limited. Some of the treatments have side effects that can cause other problems. For example, one treatment thins bones, another can cause anemia, and another can irritate your liver. Long term treatments can be just as bad. Their side effects can be anything from sun sensitivity to diabetes to hypertension to deterioration of hip and knee joints. However, without the treatments, you could "face life-threatening kidney inflammation."
Response: When we have more of an understanding of lupus and what causes it, hopefully someday we'll be able to prevent it and be able to develop better treatments. For now, I'm glad we at least know what it is and have some kind of treatment option for it.
http://discovermagazine.com/2007/may/vital-signs
posted by Kaylee @ 12:24 PM
4 Comments:
The treatments seem to have a lot of side affects and I feel like they shouldnt be used unless the patient really needs the treatments. When we find more possible treatments with less side affects then they will have much more success.
It has to be so hard for the patients to deal with Lupus, knowing that any medicine you take now might leave you worse later. Our body is so intricite and well designed yet it sometimes still attacks itself. I think in the next few years after more research the medical professionals will find a better way to treat/cure it.
I think that the idea of lupus and it's treatments is like selecting the lesser of the two evils. We seem to go through that alot in this world. I think that articles like this just leave me in wonder because, considering how dangerous and harmful or body can be to itself, imagaine how wonderfully and experately it would have functioned before the fall of man.
I have personal experience with lupus in my family because my aunt has it, and the medicines that she takes for it do give her a few of these side effects. I never really knew the details of this disease, and it seems like the treatments do more harm than good; I feel like most medications for incurable diseases are like this, though. I just hope they can make a medication that has more good effect than bad in the future.
Post a Comment
<< Home