In France, 20,000 people suffer from systemic lupus erythematosus (LEP): 25 out of 100,000 French people are affected by this chronic autoimmune disease which occurs when the immune system attacks cells in the body (skin, joints, kidneys, heart…) in order to destroy them. The pathology mainly affects women between the ages of 15 and 40 – 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 from 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, etc.) 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 trauma (physical assault, sexual assault, attack, rape, etc.) without post-traumatic stress had twice the risk of developing 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 charge as quickly as possible of women who have suffered a trauma, with or without post-traumatic stress. »
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