Health risk to young adult goes unadressed
Nicoletta Carlone
Issue date: 10/17/03 Section: News
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Last October was Lupus Awaresness month, but for this disease there were no charity walks, celebrity sponsors or corporate promotions. And all year, unlike breast cancer, there seems to be almost no mention of this potentionally fatal disease that affects some 1.5 million Americans.
Three out of every ten adults knows someone with systemic lupus erythematosus lupus, (generally called SLE or lupus) according to the Lupus Foundation of America; yet most of the general public fails to recognize the serious and even fatal impacts of the disease.
"Lupus is the leading cause of death an from autoimmune disease in woman," wrote columnist Tammy L. Carter in a article for the for the Orlando Sentinel." Twenty-five percent will die in the next ten years. Lupus is an autoimmune disease (a disease in which Immune system wages war on the body's cells). It mostly strikes women from their mid-teens to there mid-forties. Lupus seems to be very gfprevalent in woman who are from minority backgrounds (including African-Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans and Asians). According to the foundation, an African-American woman is two to three times more likely to contract the disease then a Caucasian woman. Lupus also affects men, but on a smaller scale.
Some of the symptoms of lupus include fatigue, severe joint pain and swelling, low-grade fever, skin rashes, anemia, extreme fatigue, kidney problems and sun-sensitivity.
The disease can also do much damage to the internal organs and sometimes leads to organ failure, resulting in death.
Lupus' symptoms often mimic those of other non-fatal disorders such as arthritis, epilepsy, fibromyalgia, influenza. This makes the disease very hard to diagnose. The symptoms of the disease often are hidden or go into remission for long periods of times, sometimes not even appearing to be ill. The disease appears all of a sudden in 'flare-ups'. It does not take just one blood test to make diagnosis. There is a series of eleven criteria including blood work that rhumetologists require for a diagnosis.
According to a survey done by the LFDA, it generally takes sufferers from lupus at least four years to get a
correct diagnosis.
" How can a disease that I learned about more than 20 years ago still exist in obscurity How can we ever find a cure for an illness that doctors still have trouble diagnosing?" asked Carter.
The cause for lupus is still unknown. It remains a mystery why the disease affects generally affects woman and minorities. According to the LFDA, researchers believe that environmental conditions might be a factor
in contracting Lupus.
While many new treatments are on the horizon, there is no cure for lupus and the medications prescribed to hinder the disease are very toxic and have severe side effects.
Three out of every ten adults knows someone with systemic lupus erythematosus lupus, (generally called SLE or lupus) according to the Lupus Foundation of America; yet most of the general public fails to recognize the serious and even fatal impacts of the disease.
"Lupus is the leading cause of death an from autoimmune disease in woman," wrote columnist Tammy L. Carter in a article for the for the Orlando Sentinel." Twenty-five percent will die in the next ten years. Lupus is an autoimmune disease (a disease in which Immune system wages war on the body's cells). It mostly strikes women from their mid-teens to there mid-forties. Lupus seems to be very gfprevalent in woman who are from minority backgrounds (including African-Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans and Asians). According to the foundation, an African-American woman is two to three times more likely to contract the disease then a Caucasian woman. Lupus also affects men, but on a smaller scale.
Some of the symptoms of lupus include fatigue, severe joint pain and swelling, low-grade fever, skin rashes, anemia, extreme fatigue, kidney problems and sun-sensitivity.
The disease can also do much damage to the internal organs and sometimes leads to organ failure, resulting in death.
Lupus' symptoms often mimic those of other non-fatal disorders such as arthritis, epilepsy, fibromyalgia, influenza. This makes the disease very hard to diagnose. The symptoms of the disease often are hidden or go into remission for long periods of times, sometimes not even appearing to be ill. The disease appears all of a sudden in 'flare-ups'. It does not take just one blood test to make diagnosis. There is a series of eleven criteria including blood work that rhumetologists require for a diagnosis.
According to a survey done by the LFDA, it generally takes sufferers from lupus at least four years to get a
correct diagnosis.
" How can a disease that I learned about more than 20 years ago still exist in obscurity How can we ever find a cure for an illness that doctors still have trouble diagnosing?" asked Carter.
The cause for lupus is still unknown. It remains a mystery why the disease affects generally affects woman and minorities. According to the LFDA, researchers believe that environmental conditions might be a factor
in contracting Lupus.
While many new treatments are on the horizon, there is no cure for lupus and the medications prescribed to hinder the disease are very toxic and have severe side effects.