By Penelope A. Domogo, MD
Lupus is not a common disease but more and more people are being afflicted with it. There are many types of lupus but when we say “lupus” we refer to the most common type which is systemic lupus erythematosus or SLE. It is an autoimmune disease.
What is an autoimmune disease? It is a condition where your immune system gets confused. In a healthy person, our immune system defends us by recognizing harmful invaders like viruses, bacteria, toxins, cancer cells and fights them off. In lupus, the immune system gets confused and attacks your healthy cells and tissues! It makes proteins called autoantibodies that could attack the joints or skin, kidneys, heart, platelets and other organs, causing inflammation and damage. It is like the soldiers attacking their own camp.
Symptoms of lupus will depend on what system or organ of the body is affected so these will vary from patient to patient. These include fatigue, joint pains/swelling, low-grade fever, skin rashes, “butterfly” rash in the cheeks (this is usually the tell-tale sign of lupus) or bleeding. These may appear suddenly or develop slowly, may be mild or severe, may be temporary or permanent. Most people will have mild disease where there are periods of remission like symptoms recede and may even completely disappear for a time, then flare up again. It is more common in women in their reproductive years (between 15-45 years) than men.
What causes our immune system to go crazy? There is no one cause of lupus but it was unheard of in the past. So based on population-based researches, possible risk factors are:
1. Western diet. Eating high fat, high sugar and highly processed foods is linked with inflammation which could mislead the immune system.
2. Exposure to toxic chemicals and environmental pollutants like pesticides, solvents (thinners, cleaners), paints, synthetic household cleaners, plastics. Warning to our gardeners who use a lot of toxic chemicals.
3. Some medicines, like procainamide and hydralazine, can cause lupus symptoms which will disappear after some time that the drug is discontinued.
4. Increased psychological stress of modern life- stress from work, social pressures, financial concerns.
5. Sedentary lifestyle- we don’t want to move as much as possible.
6. Over cleanliness. I quote Stephanie Watson of healthline.com/health/autoimmune disorders: “A 2015 study focused on another theory called the hygiene hypothesis. Because of vaccines and antiseptics, children today aren’t exposed to as many germs as they were in the past. The lack of exposure could make the immune system prone to overreact to harmless substances.” The researchers observed that societies that have less infections have more autoimmune diseases while societies with more infections have less autoimmune diseases. Meaning, our body needs to be exposed to nature with its resident germs so it will develop a healthy immune system.
Treatment and prevention of lupus, then, should address these risk factors mentioned above. Meantime, to alleviate symptoms, there are immuno-suppressing drugs to temporarily control the overactive immune system. Also steroids and painkillers are used to control the inflammation and pain. Other medicines maybe used by the doctor to ease other symptoms as they appear. However, in addition to modern medicines, the best remedy in the long term is lifestyle change which will help reverse the damage not only in the immune system but bring about general overhaul of the body and our environment– shifting to a healthy natural diet, enough exercise, avoidance of synthetic chemicals, allowing for natural exposure to the elements and environment and trusting the Divine.***
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“And I brought you into a plentiful land to enjoy its fruits and its good things. But when you came in, you defiled my land and made my heritage an abomination.” Jeremiah 2:7**
