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Lupus (systemic lupus erythematosus, or SLE) is a chronic disease that can cause inflammation, pain, and tissue damage throughout the body. Lupus is an autoimmune disease, in which a person's immune system attacks its own tissues as though they were foreign substances. If you develop serious lupus, you may have problems with your kidneys, heart, lungs, or blood cells.
How Is Lupus Treated?
Regrettably, the treatments for lupus are far from perfect. Virtually every medication used to treat lupus was developed to combat some other disease, and no new treatments have been developed in many years. Treatments include anti-inflammatory drugs such as prednisone and other steroids and various chemotherapy drugs that suppress the immune system. When taken over long periods, some of the medications used to treat lupus have side effects that can cause serious problems of their own. The good news is that a variety of new medications may be on the horizon that will allow doctors to treat lupus much more safely and effectively. The Solution to Lupus Is Research!
The solution to lupus is a significant increase in biomedical research focused on new treatments, prevention, and a cure. That is why the Alliance for Lupus Research (ALR) is working so hard to raise money that can support scientists working in some of the best research laboratories around the world.
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My wife Sally has lupus. When Sally was first diagnosed in 1990 she was treated with high doses of Prednisone. This treatment lasted nearly two years with many side effects. One of the worst side effects was poor blood flow to her hips which resulted with one of her hips being replaced. The lupus was in remission for a few years, but came back and attacked her kidneys again. This time nearly every lupus treatment was tried including 8 months of chemotherapy but nothing worked. Sally had become very weak and the last hope the doctors had was to try an experimental stem cell treatment. Eight months after this treatment we finally saw improvement and today Sally appears in good health with the lupus once again in remission.
Having my wife live with a titanium hip and repeatedly fight off this disease has opened my eyes to the fact that better treatments need to be developed to fight lupus. Hopefully, an annual Lupus Scramble, will help create more Lupus awareness while generating funding for lupus research.
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