Have you ever thought that your body would turn against you? The hypochondriac is actually correct for once thinking that they have a serious disease. Lupus is commonly misdiagnosed as signs and symptoms of other illnesses. Lupus is an autoimmune disease that is unpreventable, incurable and affects many people worldwide every year. Antibodies attack healthy cells opens the opportunity for infection, causing strain on the body which causes the body to show signs and symptoms trying to correct the problem. The Lupus Foundation of America estimates that 1.5 million people in the United States have some form of lupus (Raymond). The disease is incurable hence it is important that research is done to lower the rates of lupus worldwide. During this …show more content…
Signs are objective information and symptoms are subjective information. The terms are important for a medical professional to understand when learning the basics about any disease. Lupus is classified as an autoimmune disease, meaning that the immune system attacks healthy cells. The immune system detects these healthy cells to be harmful infection or bacteria in the body. Lupus affects both genders due to being a genetic disease, however it is more common in women than it is men due to hormone imbalnces. Epidemiology Review explains “They are mainly characterized by female predominance and have great impact on the quality of life of affected subjects” (Moroni). Any autoimmune disease is tough on the body due to the antibodies are attacking healthy cells. With failure to recognize harmful cells properly that means that the body is not producing enough antibodies or that there is something wrong with antibodies it does produce causing to have this malfunction. “In the course of SLE, patients may present with arthritis, rashes, serositis, various cytopenias, and kidney disease, psychiatric, neurological and other manifestations” (Mosca). All of the previously mentioned diseases have common …show more content…
Lupus is hard to diagnose due to the fact that it affects a large number of or organs in the body. The lab aspect of the diagnosis includes blood work to check white blood cell counts or hemoglobin levels. The more depth advanced evaluations described in the medical journal by medical professionals of SLE Classification Criteria who explains “Some of these features are quite specific, such as immune complex glomerulonephritis or autoantibodies to the Smith (Sm) antigen” (Aringer). By checking these levels, it gives the doctors an idea that symptoms a patient experience are lupus instead of just a virus or bacterial infection. X-rays, Computed Axial Tomography Scan (CT scan) or an Electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG) are imaging diagnosis. Diagnosing discoid lupus or subacute cutaneous lupus includes testing photosensitivity and provocation. The Photodermatology, Photoimmunology, and Photomedicine journal explains that “Cutaneous manifestations of lupus pose significant difficulties for affected individuals with photosensitivity having a considerable impact on their quality of life” (Kim). It is very important that doctors ask the correct questions to know that UV rays have an effect on a patient to confirm this specific strand of lupus. Without this special diagnosis the patient would have reoccurring lesions appearing that would not have