Lupus is an autoimmune disease which produces antibodies causing injuries to the body's cells and tissue.
It makes the immune system go out of control and the organism attack healthy cells instead of the germs on them. This pathology, which affects more than 5 million people around the world, is more developed in women of fertile age between 15 and 44 years old.
A study conducted in the Department of Medicine at the University of Granada determined that daily stress (which occurs in circumstances of little importance but of high frequency) could exacerbate the symptoms of patients suffering from lupus. In other words, controlling the stress level of those suffering from this disease allows the determination of its negative effects, such as inexplicable loss of weight, feeling of fatigue, continuous fever or pain and inflammation in joints.
This study, carried out by Dr. Nuria Navarrete Navarrete and led by researchers Juan Jim'nez Alonso and Mar'a Isabel Peralta Ram'rez, aimed to check the effects of stress treatment in patients suffering from lupus and with high levels of stress. A team of psychologists from the University of Granada applied a therapy to fight stress in a group of 45 patients suffering from lupus to teach them how to manage their stress to reduce the negative effects of this disease. Results showed that patients who received psychological therapy signifcantly reduced their levels of stress, anxiety and depression, achieving levels even lower than those of the general population. Furthermore, they significantly improved their quality of life both at a physical and psychological level and presented fewer skin and musclar skeletal symptoms, which usually appear in patients suffering from lupus.
Nuria Navarrete explains that lupus is a chronic disease whose course is unpredictable. Patients alternate periods of clinical stability with others in which there are symptoms and signs showing that the disease is active. In addition, there are certain factors such as stress which may cause crisis and, therefore, worsen the prognosis of the disease.