Understanding and Living with Lupus

According to statistics provided by The Lupus Foundation of America, there are approximately 2 million Americans that have some form of lupus, with 90 percent of those inflicted with the condition being women. Another statistic they note is that lupus seems to be more prevalent in African American, Latinos, Asians, and Native American, while not as prevalent in Caucasians. Lupus, an autoimmune disease, is serious because it does not just affect one body structure, but rather can affect many structures of the body such as the skin, heart, lungs, blood, kidney, brain, and joints.

The way lupus works is that it inhibits the immune system from recognizing differences between foreign agents/substances and the body's actual normal cells and tissue. When this occurs, it causes the body to produce antibodies aimed at fighting against the body's own cells. This will cause the body to react and respond through inflammation, pain, and even damages to various structures of the body. Lupus is commonly referred to as the inflammation disease.

Unfortunately at this time, there is no actual cure for Lupus, but through early detection and diagnosis, the disease can be maintained and controlled. The treatment emphasizes the minimization of lupus related symptoms. Treatment will also be designed around the severity of symptoms, the body structures involved, the patient's age, overall health, and risk and side effects from the types of medications available. It is entirely possible for a person with lupus to be on a combination of several medications to help control the disease.

Living with lupus, successfully, will depend on the person's overall outlook and ability to understand the condition they are living with. As with any medical condition and disease, knowledge and understanding the disease can be essential to the success of living with it. Know the side effects that come with the route of treatment you are using, know your limitations, and know how to identify the warning signs associated with the symptoms you experience. This will help the person manage, reduce severity, and take control of their life without allowing the disease to diminish their quality of life.

Common warning signs involved in lupus are extreme fatigue, pain, skin rashes, elevated temperature, abdominal problems (discomfort and irritable bowel), headaches, and feeling dizzy. With the help of your physician, you can develop a plan of action for ways in which you can identify these symptoms, and then manage them. By building a strategy to deal with the symptoms, you will feel more in control of the disease. You will be able to quickly manage the pain, treat the rashes, medicate the headaches, rest more when you need to, and treat the abdominal issues. It will definitely be a plus if you have good communication with your physician, because managing lupus will depend on that type of partnership.

Joining a lupus support group can help you connect with others that are living with the disease. Again, this support and partnership can assist you with further learning about your condition, while eliminating that feeling of being alone with your condition. Having a group setting to discuss symptoms, treatments, and ways in which to monitor and control the disease is often therapeutic, because having a medical condition like lupus can be stressful. Communication is a good way to combat stress.

It is very important that a person with lupus maintain their overall health, because staying healthy on all levels will help the person approach the disease more positively. Staying healthy will consist of a proper and nutritious diet and exercise. This will contribute to an improved health and wellness. Part of staying healthy will also include learning how to manage stress, and since lupus can bring an enormous amount of stress, it is extremely important to learn effective techniques to handle it. Methods for dealing with stress include: relaxation techniques, meditation, exercise routines, and even spiritual enlightening.

Again, going back to developing a support system, a person with lupus will should involve family and friends. Help them learn about the condition so that they will understand and be able to assist you in your efforts to manage and control the disease. Having understanding people in your life can also improve your overall outlook and self-esteem with respect to living with lupus.

A person with lupus is truly a person that needs to learn to live with the condition. As it has been said, there is no cure at the moment; so, it becomes essential that the person inflicted with the disease learn how to manage it. They will have good days, they will have bad days, and they will have worse day, but they can live a functional and productive life when they are able to identify and control their disease.