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Have you been recently diagnosed or are you seeking information about your Lupus symptoms?
Lupus is a chronic inflammatory disease and autoimmune disorder that can affect many parts of the body. The immune system is designed to fight foreign substances in the body, like germs and viruses. But in autoimmune diseases, the immune system loses its ability to identify and isolate foreign substances and attacks healthy tissues and cells, rather than germs.
Everyone reacts differently to this disorder. One patient with lupus may have swollen knees, rashes, or fever. Another person may be tired all the time or have kidney trouble. Lupus can involve the joints, the skin, the kidneys, the lungs, the heart or the brain, and its effects can range from mild to life-threatening. It has been estimated that more than 16,000 Americans develop lupus each year, and that 500,000 to 1.5 million Americans have been diagnosed with lupus.
For more information about lupus, its signs, symptoms and treatment, please select from the links below:
Lupus Support Groups & Organizations
Recommended Book:
The Lupus Book: A Guide for Patients and Their Families
Daniel J. Wallace
Average Rating
Book description:
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles. CA. Consumer
text discusses treatments and therapies as well as updated data on
the immune system.
Discusses new blood tests and drugs introduced since the previous edition,
c2002, and includes a table of herbs and a section on cognitive therapy
and biofeedback.
Reviews:
Rating: Thankfully
in remission
Today (and for the last year and a half) I've been in remission, but
this book was an invaluable source of knowledge to me when I was coping
with the challenges of lupus. It is considered to be the "bible" for
lupus patients.
Rating: A
Must Read For Newly Diagnosed Lupus Patients
As a newly diagnosed Lupus patient, I am eager to learn more about this
hard to diagnose and currenty incurable disease. While I have an excellent
rheumatologist, he could not provide the detailed answers I sought. And
I now realize that I didn't know enough to even ask the right questions!
I read several other books on Lupus before reading this one. None of them provide the detailed information to be found in this book. I am the type of person who needs to know the details - but if your not - the book is organized so you can bypass the more detailed explanations.
After reading this book, I can now ask my doctor more intelligent and meaningful questions - letting me re-gain some control over my life - and how I live the rest of my life with Lupus.