Today's post and podcast from beatingneuropathy.com (see link below) talks primarily about lupus, as well as other autoimmune diseases. Lupus is a very strange disease because through its symptoms, it can imitate other diseases and cause all sorts of diagnostic confusion. It can also imitate neuropathy but at the same time, neuropathy can be the first sign of lupus. Unfortunately, just as with neuropathy, there's no current cure and the best that can be done is treatment of the symptoms. Reading this article will probably leave you needing more information and in that sense, Google may be your best friend.
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This week on Beating Neuropathy Radio, we’re talking about “Neuropathy, Lupus and Autoimmune Diseases”
Today 1:4 people suffer from some form of chronic pain and up to half of those people suffer from neuropathic pain, meaning they suffer from neuropathy or some type of nerve “damage”.
Lupus (SLE) “The great imitator” is a systemic autoimmune disease that can affect any part of the body, mimicking many other illnesses making it hard to diagnose. Autoimmune diseases such as lupus detects our own body cells as enemies causing our body to attack itself. The cells that our bodies produce to fight off bacteria and viruses consider themselves to be damaging causing everything from heart to kidney disease.
Lupus is sometimes difficult to discover because it can mimic so many other diseases such as MS and even cancer. Just like neuropathy can be the 1st sign of diabetes as well as metabolic syndrome, neuropathy can also be the first sign of lupus. A common sign of lupus is the “malar rash” which is also known as the butterfly rash seen on many faces of young females with lupus. Other signs or symptoms may include kidney disease or disorders, fatigue, muscle and joint pain.
Lupus is diagnosed through simple, and pretty straight forward lab work. Family history, age of onset as well as your signs and symptoms are all looked at by your doctor for an accurate diagnosis. there is a known hereditary gene that causes lupus which is why Its very important to do your research on family history to see if any other family members have been diagnosed with any other autoimmune diseases. Knowing your family history can help your doctor make a proper diagnosis. There is no known cure for lupus. However, there are many drugs used to treat various symptoms. Drugs used to treat Lupus can damper down our bodies own immune system, as with any drug you and your physician need to out weight the risks vs benefits.
Over the past 25 years autoimmune diseases has increased significantly possibly due to the chemicals in the environment and poor lifestyle choices such as lack of exercise and poor high carb diets. The “Toxic body burden” by Dr. Jeffery Bland refers to the amount of chemical exposure our bodies receive daily. Dairy plays a major role in irritation and inflammation. for example the cows we get our milk from may be grassing on pesticide grass or could be exposed to heavy metals, leaving us unsure of the amount of chemicals being passed though the cow to the milk. And since autoimmune diseases make a person much for sensitive to these chemicals, we highly recommend a dairy and gluten free diet.
Depending on how sensitive your body is to toxins and chemicals you may want to consider eliminating these toxins at home. One way is properly disposing of cleaning products, lawn care and even cosmetics and perfumes. Air freshners and dryers sheets also contain hyper sensitive chemicals that you may want to keep out of your home. Learn much more in the patient library at neuropathyDR.com.
http://www.beatingneuropathy.com/neuropathy-lupus-autoimmune-diseases
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