are "women"
Immune imbalance causes many diseases, as the immune system for unknown reasons produces large quantities of antibodies that attack the body’s own organs, and among the diseases that result from this is "lupus" that targets women more than men.
A consultant of internal medicine and rheumatology, and the director of academic affairs and medical research at Asir Central Hospital, Dr. Al-Hussein Asiri, says, “SLE is a group of symptoms that afflict humans due to a defect in the immune system, which consists of a group of cells and tissues whose function is to fight germs, bacteria, and foreign bodies entering the body. But some people have an unknown defect in the immune system, and it begins to attack the body’s organs itself instead of protecting them, causing some damage and damage.
He added that "SLE is a chronic rheumatic disease that affects a person, and continues with him throughout his life, and its severity varies from person to person, and there are bouts of activity of the disease and periods during which he is inactive, indicating the presence of a type that affects the entire body called" systemic or general lupus. "
Dr. Asiri explained that 90% of cases of SLE in women, while only 10% in men, and it can affect children of any age, but it occurs more often in women between the ages of 15 and 45 years.
Regarding the symptoms of the disease, he says, "The severity of the symptoms differs from one patient to another, which are muscle pain and swelling in the joints, a high temperature, a weak appetite, and the patient feels general weakness and lack of energy, and fatigue when doing a little effort, and a rash appears on the face. Sometimes it is across the cheeks and the bridge of the nose called the butterfly, and sometimes it is red and scaly, and appears on the face, scalp, ear, arms, or chest area, and also symptoms of skin sensitivity to the sun, and the occurrence of changes in the color of the fingers when exposed to cold water or cold air, and it is called phenomenon. Raynaud''''s, sudden weight loss, headache, headache, excessive hair loss, and abdominal pain, as a result of inflammation of the membrane that covers the intestine.
He pointed out that "one of the advanced symptoms of the disease is also the occurrence of mental obsession, or a stroke or bleeding in the brain, or a severe headache with which regular painkillers do not work. Lupus can also affect blood cells, causing anemia," a in the level of hemoglobin in the blood, It may also lead to a decrease in the number of other blood cells, such as white blood cells that resist microbes, and platelets that prevent bleeding, indicating that these symptoms do not occur all at the same time, but rather occur in different stages of the disease.
Regarding the causes of the disease, the rheumatology consultant said, "The true cause of lupus is unknown, as it is not known why this person himself is infected with the disease without others, but there are several factors that may have a role, including the genetics factor, as it was found that the disease may affect more than one person in the family." The one, hormonal factors, as it was observed that the disease affects women, so there is a relationship between lupus and the type of hormones such as the estrogen hormone, which allows women to be able to conceive and have children, in addition to other external factors, such as the person taking certain drugs, or being exposed to the disease with viruses. Certain factors may play a role in developing lupus. "
On how SLE is diagnosed, Dr. Al-Hussein says, "It is imperative to do blood tests, and some diagnostic radiations when necessary, and to reach the correct diagnosis quickly is very important to determine the severity of the disease and the extent of its effect on the body, as treatment is much better when it starts early," The doctor may need to take a sample of urine collected on 24 hours in order to check the level of albumin "protein". The doctor diagnoses the disease accurately by examining the DNA compounds in the blood and some other evidence, and after excluding other similar diseases. "
Dr. Asiri stated that there is no definitive treatment that completely eliminates lupus, because it is a chronic disease, and the medical goal is to put symptoms under control using anti-inflammatory drugs and cortisone, "noting that some patients do not need treatment if their symptoms are simple, stressing the importance of The patient gets regular vaccinations against infectious diseases.
