#10
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus or as it is more commonly known as Lupus, is an autoimmune disorder which means the body attacks itself. The body’s immune system attacks the body’s cells and tissues. This can cause joint inflammation, skin rash, nausea swollen glands, and can make the person feel rundown and weak.
I chose to do this disorder because my cousin has been diagnosed with Lupus. From Monday to Wednesday last week his blood platelet levels dropped from 164,000 to 74,000 per microlitre. If blood platelet levels get too low bleeding will occur without clotting. He isn’t allowed to play sports or even go out for recess because of this. For a normal person platelet levels should be at 150,000 to 450,000 per microlitre. They are working on finding the right medication for him but obviously his medicine isn’t working for him yet.
When platelets levels drop it is called Thrombocytopenia. Platelet levels drop in Lupus because of medication, and the disease itself. Lupus causes the body to produce antibodies that attack the protein on the surface of the platelets. They are starting Matthew on Imuran and Prednisone. Imuran is used in autoimmune deseases to inhibit the immune response that is attacking his platelets. Prednisone is a Corticosteroid used to control the symptom of inflammation especially in his joints.
Its strange that Mathew being a twelve year old white boy would have this disease when it is more commonly found in black and Asian women ages 20-30. It is still a common disease, 2 million people in the U.S. alone live with Lupus. The treatment of lupus is different for what organ is most affected and usually consists of medicine like Prednisone, Imuran, Cytoxan, Neoral, Sandimmune, Methotrexate and CellCept. Cytoxan is used to treat the kidney desease which is often associated with Lupus. Neural and Sandimmune are used to treat a membranous type of kidney disease sometimes seen. Methotrexate is commonly used to treat Rheumatoid arthritis but is used to treat the skni rash , organ inflammation and joint inflammation seen in Lupus. CellCept treats chronic Lupus skin conditions and is being studied for use against kidney disease.
Living with Lupus won’t be easy. Matthew will have to put up with flare-ups, a lifelong disease with dependency on a lot of medication. To top all that off the side effects of the medication range from weight gain ,nausea and hair loss to liver damage, kidney failure and even cancer. Hopefully he can live a fairly normal life despite this disease.
Refrences
Systemic lupus erythematosus. (2010). Wikipedia. Retrieved (2010, May 16) from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systemic_lupus_erythematosus
Erstad, S.E. (2008, May 13). Immunosuppressive medications for lupus. Retrieved from http://www.questdiagnostics.com/kbase/topic/detail/drug/hw123107/detail.htm
Hajj-Ali, R.A. (2008, Febuary). systemic lupus erythematosus (sle). Retrieved from http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec05/ch068/ch068b.html
Very good post, I especially like how you connected the post to a family member of yours. The information in this post is very useful and detailed. The inclusion of information about medications used and conditions of the disorder was very well done, however I feel that you missed some crucial information that should have been included in the article. What causes this disorder? What are the symptoms of lupus? these are 2 questions I think that should have been answered in this article. also, did you know lupus can also be induced by drug reactions? I too have a cousin with this disorder and I really enjoyed reading this and learning more about the disorder. Good job.
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