Very few people know what lupus is, many have never even heard of it and even less can tell you about it. A lot of people think that lupus is a form of cancer, it is not. Lupus is an autoimmune disease; it is a chronic inflammatory disease that occurs when your body’s immune system attacks its own tissues and organs. Still confused?
It is hard to explain lupus, so I will try my best by saying your body doesn’t understand the difference between healthy and unhealthy or good and bad bacteria. With that said, you can have a healthy heart and your body will think that it is unhealthy, so it tries to fix the problem which only causes a problem that wasn’t there before. Or let’s say you catch a cold, with a healthy immune system, your body will fight off the bad bacteria that enters your body. With lupus your body gets confuse on the good bacteria in your body and the bad bacteria, so it fights both, which will cause a lupus patient to either become worse or have a lingering cold that just won’t go away.
There is no known cause of lupus but there are different triggers. Mine was cigarette smoke, both my parents smoked cigarettes my whole life and one day I woke up with a migraine and it never went away. Some people have different triggers, some are environmental, the sun, a cold or infection, stress, an injury and so on. So like myself I was fine, until one day I wasn’t. It often take years to diagnose lupus for the simple reason that the disease itself will mimic other diseases or illnesses.
Someone can be dealing with symptoms of lupus for years and it will not show in their blood, until one day they are test and there it is. Lupus is a very tricky disease, I have been battling this disease for years and I still learn things about it daily. Lupus can attack anything from your brain to your joints. One day you are fine and the next you can be in the hospital or even just stuck in bed for a few days. So when I say lupus can turn your life upside down, I say that literally and figuratively.
When you have an invisible illness it’s hard to explain to someone who doesn’t have a clue what that it is a daily struggle being in pain or feeling sick on the inside when you look fine on the outside. I’ll be bringing more awareness about Lupus to On The Rise Magazine and it’s community, and prayerfully to the world. There’s a lot to this thing we call Lupus…this reality for so many. It’s among us. With 1.5 million Americans, and at least five million people worldwide, having a form of lupus, I’m sure some people you may know has it. It’s time we understand each other a bit more.
Here are some helpful Lupus Links
http://www.mylupusteam.com/ (the social network for people living with Lupus)
http://www.lupus.org/ (Research and Advocacy)
The world needs more Lupus Awareness. Thanks so much for sharing!! I’ve sent this article to my friends with Lupus, so they know someone out there cares and nobody is alone.
This is a great article!