Brittney K. Morrison
October 20, 2012
Stress Management
Lupus
According to the Lupus Foundation Lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease that can damage any
part of the body (the joints, skin, and/ or body organs). Chronic means that the signs and symptoms
tend to last longer than six weeks and often for many years. With lupus your immune system is affected,
the immune system is what fights off bacteria, germs, and viruses. Auto Immune means your immune
system cannot tell the difference between foreign invaders and your body’s healthy tissues ("auto"
means "self") and creates autoantibodies that attack and destroy healthy tissue. These autoantibodies
cause inflammation, pain, and damage in various parts of the body.
Lupus is also a disease that causes flare up and it causes pains to worsen then into remission,
stress is one way to cause flare ups. It is not contagious at all. Lupus is not Like Cancer nor is it like HIV,
in HIV the immune system is underactive and in lupus it is over active. The cause of lupus could be
Genes, Environment (sunlight, sulfa drugs, ultra violet rays from fluorescent light bulbs, infection, viral
or illness, exhaustion, injury) and anything that causes stress to the body ( surgeries, physical harm,
pregnancy, and giving birth). Also Hormones Both Female and Male produce estrogen, but estrogen
production is greater in woman. Many women have more lupus symptoms before menstrual periods
and/or during pregnancy, when estrogen production is high. Researchers are not certain about if
estrogen levels regulate the severity of lupus.
Symptoms of lupus are Fatigue, headache fever, painful/ swollen joints, chest pains, shortness
of breath, Butterfly rash on the cheek and bridge of nose, abnormal blood clotting, hair loss, mouth and
nose ulcers, fingers turning white and blue when cold known as (Raynaud’s phenomenon). Depending
on what flares up during inflammation determines which type of doctor you would see. People who
have mild to moderate disease will be treated by a rheumatologist, who specializes in the diseases of
joints and muscles. If your lupus causes kidney problems, you will also see a nephrologist, a specialist in
diseases of the renal system. Or if you have rashes or lesions, you will see a dermatologist, who
specializes in diseases that affect the skin (including the scalp and the mouth.) Lupus affects other parts
of the body as well and other doctors may need to be seen like cardiologist that specialize in heart
problems; and Neurologist, who specializes in problems that affect the brain and nervous system, or a
perinatologist, who specializes in high-risk pregnancies.
Lupus affects the body in many ways. The cardiopulmonary system consists of your heart, lungs,
and blood vessels all are affected by lupus. Heart disease is one complication of lupus; an
echocardiogram can determine if you have heart disease caused by lupus. This is now the leading cause
of death of among people with lupus. According to Lupus foundation the heart is affected through
inflammation of the pericardium which is a sac that surrounds your heart. When the pericardium is
inflamed it is called pericarditis and you would feel a sharp pain in the chest, and experience shortness
of breath. If inflammation is long lasting (chronic) it can scar the heart tissue which can interfere with
hearts ability to pump blood, and the circulatory system will not produce the clean blood cells and take
out the co2. Smoking because of stress can cause the flare of heart disease.
Lupus can cause inflammation to the heart muscle tissue called myocardium. Symptoms of an
inflamed myocardium are chest pain and an unexplained rapid heartbeat. With lupus people are more
prone to infections so the myocardium inflammation may be caused by viral, bacterial, and fungal
infections. Endocardium is another part of the heart that is affected by lupus when the endocardium it is
called Endocarditis. Lupus Endocarditis causes the surface of the heart valve to thicken and Wart like
growth (lesions). These type of lesions can become infected, a condition called bacterial endocarditis. A
lesion also could break off and travel to the brain to form a blood clot. Both of these possibilities are
potentially very dangerous.
The Blood is affected Red blood cells, White, and platelets are affected by lupus. The circulatory
system the skin, blood vessels, and other tissues all are inflamed by lupus. Inflammation to the skin may
appear as small red or purple dot. Inflammation in the small blood vessels like a capillary may cause for
them to break and bleed inside. And inflammation to the other tissues, especially the brain is extremely
serious. Inflammation caused by lupus may also affect the lungs in many ways, and can involve the
membrane lining of the lungs, the lungs themselves, the blood vessels within the lungs, and the
diaphragm.
Researchers say there is no evidence that stress causes lupus; however if you already have lupus
unnecessary stress can cause flare ups. Emotional stress like divorce, death, financial stress and too
much responsibility can trigger off some inflammations to the body. Anger and depression are the two
that need to be avoided usually therapy and just being in a positive environment daily helps. Moderate
exercises like jogging, walking, indoor swimming, any type of exercises can keep the stress levels down
and possibilities of infection.
Stress can affect Lupus when people who are diagnosed with lupus they become depressed in
which is a major stressor. When people become depressed they don’t want to do anything, they cry, and
sometimes want to die. The more they may think about the disease the more hurt they are putting on
themselves because with the stress of depression it flares up some organs like the heart and the brain.
With those stressors the lupus patient may break out in lesions, have more pain in the chest, headaches.
People should remember the good things they have in life like their family, job, fellowship, and worship
to feed their souls.
Researchers estimate that at least 1.5 million Americans have lupus. The actual number may be
higher; however, there have been no large-scale studies to show the actual number of people in the U.S.
living with lupus. It is believed that 5 million people throughout the world have a form of lupus. Lupus
strikes mostly women of childbearing age (15-44). However, men, children, and teenagers develop
lupus, too. People of all races and ethnic groups can develop lupus, but Women of color are 2-3 times
more likely to develop lupus. More than 16,000 new cases of lupus are reported annually across the
country.
During my Research of lupus I learned a lot, I did not even know what lupus was. When I first got
my paper I tried to make and educated guess on what it might be, my guess was a respiratory system
disease. But when I began my search it was a condition that affects the whole body and it’s not actually
known what the cause may be. To me that was an eye opener as a female, because if I don’t take care of
my body anything is liable to happen to me. So I will make it my new resolution to keep myself healthy
as much as possible.
Resources
Lupus.org
Serrhel G. Adams, Jr., 1,2,8 Paul M. Dammers, 3 Tara L. Saia, 4 Phillip J. Brantley, 5,6 and Gerard
R. Gaydos 7 (1994) Stress, Depression, and Anxiety Predict Average Symptom Severity and
Daily Symptom Fluctuation in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Journal of Behavioral Medicine