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Lupus is another kind of inflammatory disease that normally attacks a persons
joints, skin, kidneys, blood cells, heart and lungs. Normally woman are more prone to this disease than men. The reasons behind that is still unknown. Lupus is a complication when the bodies immune system attacks your own bodies tissues and organs.
The Different Types of Lupus include
1. Systemic lupus erythematosus
2. Discoid lupus erythematosus
3. Drug induced lupus
Symptoms of Lupus
Lupus shows a wide variety of symptoms. These symptoms develop at intervals rather than showing all the symptoms all at once. Some of the common symptoms of lupus include
1. Rashes in different parts of the body which might be small lesions or crusty raised rashes.
2. Joint pain, acute stiffness and swelling. The pain is mainly localized to
fingers, hands, wrists and knees. The pain might be continuously shifting from one side of the joint to another.
3. Kidney damage as a result of which the kidneys ability to filter toxins decrease leading to kidney failure.
4. Photosensitivity even to artificial lights
5. Brain and central nervous system problems
6. Heart problems
7. Lung problems
Treatment of
Lupus
There is no hard and fast route for treatment of lupus. Treatment can be very much varied depending on the condition and type of complications. There are many drugs in the market that are used for treatment of lupus. But most of these drugs comes with there own plus and minuses. Some of these drugs have some serious side affects which cannot be easily ignored. Hence a more judicious use of these drugs is advocated.
Some of the different kinds of drugs that are easily available
include
1. NSAIDS (non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs):
One of the most commonly used NSAIDS for the treatment of lupus is naproxen sodium and ibuprofen. But before trying out any type of NSAIDS you should ask your doctor about the kind of dosage as these drugs have serious side affects.
2. Antimalarial Drugs: Although there is no connection between malaria and lupus it has been found that antimalaraial drugs like Hydroxychloroquine (plaquenil) have a positive affect on lupus .it is normally used on pregnant women as it has been found to have a fewer risk on the fetus as compared to other drugs.
3. Corticosteroids: It is one of the most affective drugs to counter the inflammation of lupus. But the problem with these sort of drugs is that it has a large number of side affects. Some of the negative influences of these drugs include weight
gain, thinning of bones, high blood pressure, diabetes and increased risk of infection. The best possible way to reduce the negative affects of corticosteroids is to combine it with other medication.
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