Lupus
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), also called lupus, is an autoimmune disorder characterized by the immune system attacking the body's own tissues and organs, leading to inflammation and damage. The severity of the disease varies, from mild cases only involving the skin to severe cases affecting multiple organs, including the brain. Lupus sufferers experience flares, or intervals of active disease, and remissions in disease. The disease most predominantly occurs in women of childbearing age, but also affects children, adolescents, and men. While the cause of lupus is still unknown, various genetic, environmental, and infectious causes have been associated with its development. Current treatments for lupus vary depending on the extent of the disease, and may change over time. Some medications used to ease symptoms include nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, antimalarial drugs, corticosteroids, and immunosuppressive medications, though many of these drugs carry their own risks.
What is Lupus?
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), which is more commonly referred to as lupus, is a disease that affects the immune system.
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Various viruses and bacteria have long been known to cause autoimmune diseases where there is such a predisposition. This phenomenon also seems to play a major role in SARS-CoV-2, especially in severe courses.
However, a fascinating new study posted to the medRxiv* preprint server suggests that such disappointment may have been both premature and unwarranted, based on a re-analysis of over 250 patients on invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) during the first two months of the pandemic.
Besides common symptoms such as fever, cough and respiratory distress, some children have an atypical form of COVID-19 known as multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), characterized by persistent fever and inflammation of several organs, such as the heart and intestines, as well as the lungs to a lesser extent.
In the Philippines, in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, there occurred a supply shortage of hydroxychloroquine and methotrexate. Limited access to medication and the life changes caused from the COVID-19 pandemic may prompt patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) to experience disease flares.
Most medications being tested today in clinical trials for the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have been repurposed from other indications. These are typically not tested in pregnant women. A new study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, summarizes what is known about the safety of these drugs in this group.
The study, published in the journal Nature, sheds light on the disease mechanism of COVID-19 and how the virus causes a faulty immune system.
A new study in the journal Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology discusses the ribonucleic acid (RNA) genome of the virus, and the mechanisms by which it establishes infection within the host cell. The researchers also summarize the development of animal models of COVID-19, which will both help understand the clinical features of the illness, and indicate new approaches for the treatment of the infection.
By combining two medications, researchers at Michigan Medicine optimized a therapy for people with gout, a condition that causes severe damage and disability if left untreated.
New research published in Experimental Physiology highlight the possible long term health impacts of COVID-19 on young, relatively healthy adults who were not hospitalized and who only had minor symptoms due to the virus.
Nearly 1 in 5 adults with high blood pressure, a leading risk factor for heart disease and stroke, also take a medicine that could be elevating their blood pressure, according to new research presented at the American College of Cardiology's 70th Annual Scientific Session.
A new study published in Arthritis Care & Research indicates that few individuals with the autoimmune disease lupus who were publicly insured through Medicaid received recommended vaccines in 2000-2010.
The risk of developing atherosclerosis - a narrowing of the arteries as cholesterol plaque builds up, leading to obstruction of blood flow - is higher for people with autoimmune rheumatic diseases than for the general population.
News-Medical interviews Sir Brian Greenwood about raising awareness for malaria during the COVID-19 pandemic and achieving elimination of the disease.
If you are exposed to silica (quartz) dust at work - e.g. from working with concrete and granite - you have a greater risk of certain types of rheumatic disease.
Researchers in India have gathered and presented a large body of evidence highlight quercetin – a flavonoid molecule found in many common fruits and vegetables – may be developed into drug therapies used to combat COVID-19.
UT Southwestern researchers have identified factors that put patients with childhood-onset lupus at elevated risk for poor outcomes, such as end-stage renal disease or death, as they transition from pediatric to adult health care.
A recent study published in JCI found that a neutrophil's endoplasmic reticulum, the organelle that normally makes proteins in the cell, becomes stressed in the autoimmune disorder lupus.
Patients with lupus are more likely to have metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance - both factors linked to heart disease - if they have lower vitamin D levels, a new study reveals.
The Lupus Research Alliance proudly announces two exceptional recipients of the 2020 Dr. William E. Paul Distinguished Innovator Award in Lupus and Autoimmunity: Jacques Banchereau, PhD and Ignacio Sanz, MD.
When the body detects a pathogen, such as bacteria or viruses, it mounts an immune system response to fight this invader. In some people, the immune system overreacts, resulting in an overactive immune response that causes the body to injure itself, which may prove fatal in some cases.