World Lupus Day

(Google Image) 

By Diane Forrest, RN

Picture yourself in a boat on a river,

With tangerine trees and marmalade skies.

Somebody calls you, you answer quite slowly,

A girl with kaleidoscope eyes.

Cellophane flowers of yellow and green,

Towering over your head.

Look for the girl with the sun in her eyes,

And she's gone.

Lucy in the sky with diamonds,

Lucy in the sky with diamonds,

Lucy in the sky with diamonds,

Ah... Ah...

Follow her down to a bridge by a fountain,

Where rocking horse people eat marshmallow pies.

Everyone smiles as you drift past the flowers,

That grow so incredibly high.

Newspaper taxis appear on the shore,

Waiting to take you away.

Climb in the back with your head in the clouds,

And you're gone.

Picture yourself on a train in a station,

With plasticine porters with looking glass ties.

Suddenly someone is there at the turnstile,

The girl with kaleidoscope eyes.

(Google Image)

Many of you will recognize the above lyrics as the Beatles song, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.  I can remember the big uproar about this song, claiming it was talking about the drug LSD and encouraging kids to take it.   In fact nothing could be further from the truth.  This song was written because John Lennon's son, Julian, had drawn a picture of his friend Lucy.  You can see the picture above.  When John saw the picture, he was inspired to write the song.

(Google Image)

Lucy had lupus and eventually died from the disease.  Systemic lupus erythematous (SLE) is a long-term autoimmune disorder that may affect the skin, joints, kidneys, brain, and other organs.  The cause of lupus is unknown, some of the symptoms include:

• Chest pain when taking a deep breath;
• Fatigue;
• Fever with no other cause;
• General discomfort, uneasiness, or ill feeling (malaise);
• Hair loss;
• Mouth sores;
• Sensitivity to sunlight; and or
• Skin rash -- a "butterfly" rash over the cheeks and bridge of the nose affects about half of people with SLE. The rash gets worse in sunlight. The rash may also be widespread.

(Google Image)

There is currently no cure for Lupus.  Today marks the first ever World Lupus Day and was started by Julian Lennon for his friend.  To learn more about Lupus and ways to help, visit this site:  http://www.worldlupusday.org/

World Lupus Day 2011

Lupus is an autoimmune disorder.  An autoimmune disorder is a condition that occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys healthy body tissue. Normally, the immune system helps protect the body from harmful substances. But in patients with an autoimmune disease, the immune system cannot tell the difference between harmful substances and healthy ones.  The  cause of autoimmune diseases is not fully known.  It affects women 9 times more than men, occurs between the ages of 10 to 50, and African Americans and Asians are affected more than other races.

The most noticeable sign of lupus is a "butterfly" rash across the cheeks and bridge of the nose, and almost all have joint pain and swelling.

Other symptoms include:

Chest pain when taking a deep breath

Fatigue
Fever with no other cause
General discomfort, uneasiness, or ill feeling (malaise)
Hair loss
Mouth sores
Sensitivity to sunlight

Diagnosis

Tests done to diagnose Lupus include:
Complete blood count
Chest x-ray
urinalysis
antibody testing

Treatment:

There is no cure for Lupus, the treatment is mainly to treat the symptoms.  Drugs such as Nsaids and corticosteroids help with the pain and swelling, and corticosteroid cream is used for the rash. 

Outcome:

The outcome for people with SLE has improved in recent years. The 10-year survival rate for lupus patients is greater than 85%.

To learn more about lupus visit this website.  http://www.lupus.org/newsite/index.html