Articles Index

Testing for Lupus: Complete Blood Count

A complete blood count or CBC is one of several diagnostic tools available to your physician to help her make a diagnosis.

Keeping Track of Your Medical History

Your medical history is your personal record of health information including your close relatives. It is important to maintain because family members share many common traits, physically and socially, including genes, environment, diet and lifestyle.

Lupus and MS: What’s the Difference?

Lupus and multiple sclerosis are both autoimmune diseases. Lupus triggers a response from the immune system that may attack various organs in the body. Multiple sclerosis, on the other hand, attacks myelin, the fatty protective layer over nerves fibers in the brain and spinal cord.

Genetic Counseling for Lupus

Genetic counseling may be something you are considering if a family member has lupus. Considering that women with lupus have a 10 percent chance of having a daughter with lupus, a 2 percent chance of having a son with lupus, and a 50 percent chance that her children with have a positive ANA, there might be reason to wonder.

Lupus Affects Older Adults, Too

Lupus isn’t interested in what age you are. Young or old, you could get this autoimmune disease. But if you are an older woman, your chances of getting the disease are eight times greater than those for men. Find out why, and other statistics, about lupus and older adults.

What does an Occupational Therapist do?

Occupational therapists have one primary goal: help their patients create and maintain independent, productive and satisfying lives. They do this by working with patients to improve their ability to perform tasks in living and working environments, and by design treatment plans that help patients regain, maintain or develop living and working skills.

What Does a Psychologist or Pscyhotherapist Do?

A psychologist or psychotherapist will help you, and your family, manage the emotional and psychological stress of living with this disease. After assessing your status and ability to cope with the disease, he or she will design a mental treatment program to help you manage the stress.

What Does an Advanced Practice Nurse Do?

The role of an advanced practice nurse is to provide preventative care, treatment, and management of acute and chronic illnesses using advanced clinical skills, diagnostic reasoning, and advanced therapeutic interventions.

Donating Blood with Lupus

Donating blood for those with lupus is not necessarily an automatic ‘no.’ A review of blood donation guidelines and a talk with the doctor could reveal that a person with lupus is eligible to donate.

For Lupus Patients: What Does a Physical Therapist Do?

The overall goal of the physical therapist is to restore, maintain, and promote overall fitness and health.

What Does a Social Worker Do?

Social workers offer a broad range of services, from emotional support to referrals for community resources. They may provide counseling services, advocate for a patient, or work with community groups to develop resources that will aid medical patients and other constituencies, including people with lupus.

True Story of Alicia Springgate, a Woman with Lupus

One of the first steps in dealing with a lupus diagnosis is coming to understand that you’re not alone. Here, the true story of a woman with lupus who was diagnosed after recurring bouts of pleurisy, lung effusion and congestive heart failure.

Vasculitis

Vasculitis, or inflammation of the blood vessels, is a common condition that can occur in people with lupus. It commonly occurs when a person’s immune system mistakenly attacks blood vessels. This can be a dangerous condition, since an inflamed blood vessel can become narrow, restricting blood flow.

Seasonal Affective Disorder and Lupus

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) for people with lupus can be a difficult condition to treat, since SAD is often treated with light therapy and those with lupus are often sensitive to light. So how do those with SAD and lupus get treated?

What Is Acute Cutaneous Lupus?

Skin conditions are a known part of what a person with lupus must regularly deal with. While lupus is known to affect the joints, kidneys, heart and lungs, more often than not, one of the clearest signs that a person has developed the disease is the way it affects the skin. These abnormal skin areas are referred to as skin – or cutaneous – disease.

Alopecia

Alopecia is the medical term for hair loss, and nearly 45 percent of people with lupus will experience some form of alopecia.

Subacute Cutaneous Lupus

Subacute cutaneous lupus is a skin disease that presents itself via two distinct cutaneous lesions.

Tips for Caring for Your Skin in the Winter

The Top 5 tips for caring for your skin in the winter, when dry, cold air creeps in and starts drying fingers and cracking skin. Find out the top five ways to protect your skin from the winter chill

Complementary & Alternative Medicine: Pain Management Techniques

Treatments for systemic lupus erythematosus vary by patient and by healthcare practitioner. Some of the methods might stray just off the path of traditional conventional medicine, and into the lane of complementary and alternative medicine, defined as a group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices and products that are not presently considered to be part of conventional medicine.

Mary Elizabeth McDonough

The number of celebrities with lupus is growing almost every day, especially since the autoimmune disease does not distinguish between class, gender, race or riches. One of those affected by lupus is former ‘The Waltons’ star Mary Elizabeth McDonough.

Lupus and Pregnancy

One question that often arises in women who have been newly diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus is “Can I safely become pregnant and have a healthy baby?” The short answer? Yes.

Lupus and Miscarriage

Though sobering, miscarriage occurs in 10 percent of pregnancies of women with lupus. That said, women with lupus who wish to get pregnant certainly can – and can experience a normal pregnancy and delivery, as well.

Your Lupus Diet

One common misconception for those diagnosed with lupus is that there are “good” foods and “bad” foods, and the inclusion or exclusion of those items will either exacerbate or alleviate lupus symptoms. The truth is that there are only bad diets.

Five Facts About Lupus and Aging

Those with lupus know it is a life-long illness. What many do not know is how the disease will treat them as they grow older. Here are five facts associated with lupus and age.

Lupus Anticoagulants

Lupus anticoagulant antibodies - you may at some point encounter the term, or discover that you have or carry these antibodies. Also categorized as antiphospholipid antibodies, they interfere with the normal function of blood vessels and can lead to narrowing of the blood vessels or blood clots.