Five Letter Word

Lupus: to us this is just another word in the english language but how do those who are affected by this five letter word feel about it. To truly understand it we must first know what it is. According to Medical News Today Lupus is an autoimmune disease where the body's immune system becomes hyperactive and attacks normal, healthy tissue. Lupus causes the immune system to be unable to know the difference between antigens and healthy tissue. This disease is a very serious one and should be recognized as such.

Many people are affected by this small word. I myself am affected by it. My best friend has this disease. I watch her go in and out of the hospital every month. I witness all the pills she has to take every morning, 6-8 pills a day just to keep it under control. It is sad for me because I know that one day it will consume her and that is nothing I want to have to think or go through. Having lupus at any age is tragic, but I feel as if it is very tragic to have it as a young person.

So how many people in America actually get this disease. About 40 out of 100,000 Northern Americans and 200 out of 100,000 blacks. As you can see these are large numbers especially in blacks. What is even more shocking is that women are diagnosed 9 times more than men. It is also very common is people between the ages of 15-45. When I think about these numbers I am appalled, as I’m sure you all are also. Those people affected are mothers,fathers,sons, and daughters; all by this small five letter word, lupus. Lupus can cause many things in your body to become dysfunctional. This disease can cause your blood to clot, your kidneys to fail, and even give you other health problems.

         There is one type of lupus I would like to focus on and that is lupus nephritis,which is a kidney inflammation due to lupus. Symptoms of this type of lupus are: foamy urine, bloody urine, high blood pressure, and swelling of any area of the body. This affects 3 out of every 10,000 people. In kids with lupus nephritis at least half will have kidney complications. There is no prevention of this disease.

By: Pubmeth Health

 

 

 

           

This is the type of lupus my friend has. This disease has turned her life around 360º. SInce she was diagnosed in the year of 2009 she has accumulated arthritis and anticoagulant blood,meaning your blood clots more than needed, due to complications with lupus. Since she has anticoagulant blood she has to take blood thinners for the rest of her life. She has a blood clot in her leg that has traveled to her lungs and can be fatal. This blood clot is called a pulmonary embolism. A pulmonary embolism is a sudden blockage in a lung artery, which is caused by a blood clot in the leg that has broken loose and travels through the bloodstream. This can cause permanent lung damage, low oxygen level is the blood, and damage to other organs due to lack of oxygen.



By: Medline Plus

 

          The medicine that she takes is to suppress the immune system in other words make it weak so that it does not attack itself, which makes her more prone to infections and being sick.
         With this disease she is always fatigued,and has to take pills to give her energy. Also this affects her diet. A low sodium diet is required so that she does not swell up. Due to her lupus complications she had to start chemotherapy and has to drive to Birmingham, Al which is two hours from where we live.

        With this inconvenient disease it is hard for her to be young. It is hard for her to do everyday things such as brushing her own hair due to her arthritis. I find inspiration in her because even though she has this disease she still manages to be a full time student and a full time big sister to her sister who also has lupus. I really love my bestfriend and would hate to lose her to this disease.

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(C.White,personal communication, March 4,2013)