In France, 20,000 people suffer from systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE): 25 in 100,000 French people are affected by this chronic autoimmune disease that occurs when the immune system attacks the body’s cells (skin, joints, kidneys, heart …) in order to destroy them. The pathology mainly affects women between 15 and 40 years old – men have, on average, 10 times less risk: it is most often manifested by fatigue, significant weight loss, fever, joint pain, lesions of the skin and mucous membranes …
According to a new study conducted by scientists at Wiley College (in the United States), women who suffer from post-traumatic stress (a psychological disorder that can appear after a violent trauma and which is characterized in particular by hypersensitivity, sleep and attention disorders, hypervigilance …) would, on average, be 3 times more likely than others to develop LEP-type lupus.
Lupus: post-traumatic stress more dangerous than smoking
In addition, women who had suffered a trauma (physical assault, sexual assault, attack, rape, etc.) without post-traumatic stress were twice as likely as the average to develop LEP-type lupus.
To carry out this study (published in the specialized journal Arthritis & Rheumatology), American scientists worked with medical data collected on 54,763 women. Verdict: “Post-traumatic stress (and, more broadly, violent trauma) is more likely to cause lupus in the woman concerned than smoking”. “This work confirms the existence of a link between mental health and physical health: hence the importance of taking care of women who have suffered a trauma as quickly as possible, with or without post-traumatic stress. “
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