Here are the symptoms of lupus, an autoimmune disease that mainly affects women.
- The most common symptom of lupus is a rash on the face.
- “The symptoms of lupus can vary greatly from one person to another: beyond the skin, the disease can also affect the joints, kidneys, pericardium, nervous system, blood, etc.,” adds the AFL.
- Lupus affects women in 90% of cases.
Following the Paris Dermatological Days, the congress of the National Society of Internal Medicine and the French Rheumatology congress, the French lupus association (AFL) takes stock of the symptoms of this autoimmune disease.
“Symptoms of lupus can be very variable”
The most common symptom of lupus is a rash on the face. These red patches, sometimes in relief, take on the appearance of a mask in the shape of butterfly wings which develops around the eyes, on the nose and on the cheekbones.
“The symptoms of lupus can vary greatly from one person to another: beyond the skin, the disease can also affect the joints, kidneys, pericardium, nervous system, blood, etc.,” completes the AFL.
Several complications can thus appear in people with lupus, namely problems:
– pulmonary;
– cardiac;
– concerning the lymph nodes and the spleen;
– concerning the nervous system;
– renal;
– concerning blood;
– digestive;
– concerning pregnancy.
“The disease first manifests itself by very general warning signs which do not allow lupus to be easily identified: fever, malaise, fatigue and muscle pain”, specify the members of the non-profit organization. “We can also see polyarthritis (inflammation of the joints)”, add-they.
Lupus is characterized by the alternation of periods of flare-ups and periods of remission during which the symptoms gradually diminish, totally or in part. These periods of remission can last several weeks, months, or even years. People are therefore not necessarily continuously ill throughout their lives, even if this pathology is considered chronic.
Lupus symptoms mainly affect women
Lupus affects women in 90% of cases. Patients are generally between 15 and 40 years old. “As the disease mainly affects women of childbearing age, pregnancies must be planned and closely monitored,” add the activists. “Children can also be affected by lupus, but very rarely (less than 2% of cases concern those under 19). When it concerns men, this condition is immediately more serious. they detail.
Today, hydroxychloroquine constitutes the basic treatment for lupus, which has long remained without medication. In cases of severe damage, corticosteroids, immunosuppressants and biotherapies can be used.
“Lupus” means “wolf” in Latin. Originally, the term was used to characterize various skin conditions whose marks were reminiscent of wolf bites. It appears for the first time in medical literature in 916 in connection with the illness of the bishop of Liège Eraclius.
