Care Lupus

Lupus is an autoimmune disorder, meaning the immune system attacks the body's tissue, causing damage and dysfunction, and sometimes affecting major body organs. Lupus may be mild, bu it can also bring on serious and even life-threatening complications. Symptoms include extreme fatigue, joint pain, muscle aches, anemia and the general malaise, plus rash, most often across the face.

Lupus Erythematosus is a complex and challenging disease that affects the lives of many thousands of individuals and their families. This comprehensive guide brings together info. on a variety of issues that health professionals need to know about in order to provide treatment and support strategies. Covers: background on lupus, advances in research, lab tests used to diagnose and evaluate lupus, and care of the lupus patient, medications used to treat lupus, psychosocial aspects of lupus, and patient educ. and info. Contains info. useful to the whole patient care team: nurses, physicians, physical and occupational therapists, social workers, and patients.

The scope of this contributed volume is to provide an overview of the latest translational research in the field of lupus pathogenesis, with particular emphasis on how these discoveries progress in parallel with therapeutic drug development. Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multifaceted disease with a number of well-defined immune pathways that are dysregulated, resulting in an immune-mediated chronic inflammatory injury at target organs. As knowledge of these pathways evolves to provide opportunities for targeted drug therapy and lays the foundation for personalized medicine, clinicians and researchers need to keep up with the ever-expanding medical literature. This book will critically appraise the current understanding of important immunological pathways that contribute to the pathogenesis of lupus. We will review the role of interferons as part of the innate immune defects that perpetuate the loss of self-tolerance in SLE. B cell hyperactivity, as a defining hallmark of SLE, and different strategies of B cell targeted therapy will be discussed. The role of co-stimulation or immune checkpoint molecules in activating B and T cells will be reviewed, as well as other cytokines that serve in the amplification loop promoting a more proinflammatory Th1 or Th17 responses. Intracellular targets, such as signaling molecules in the JAK/STAT pathway, or a variety of kinases and proteasomes, can cause a cascading downstream effect of transcriptional responses that are important in SLE. Immune homeostasis can also be restored by bolstering the naturally occurring anti-inflammatory mechanisms. Glucocorticoid, as a potent natural anti-inflammatory hormone, can mediate its effects by recruiting histone deacetylase that serve to repress gene transcription. Glucocorticoid-induced leucine zipper is a gene upregulated by glucocorticoid that can be a potential target for development of anti-inflammatory strategy. Finally, T regulatory cells can be utilized to help restore to immune tolerance and are amongst the latest focus of therapeutic development in SLE.

Now completely updated! The best-selling, most comprehensive guide to lupus, its complications, and management. Lupus is an autoimmune disease that can attack any body organ. It is three times more common in the United States today than it was in the 1980s, so there is an increased need for accurate, practical information on this potentially devastating disease. Lupus expert and clinician Donald E. Thomas, Jr., MD, provides all the helpful information patients need so they can understand and treat this disease. Highlighting amazing advancements in the diagnosis and treatment of lupus, this edition includes new and expanded information on: • The latest FDA-approved medications • How lupus affects different body parts • Advanced labs that improve lupus diagnosis and treatment • The role of the microbiome and anti-inflammatory diets • Updated recommendations for those who are pregnant or breastfeeding • Childhood-onset lupus • The interaction between COVID-19 and lupus • Non-drug treatments, complementary medicine, and medical cannabis The gold standard since it was first published and carefully reviewed by experts in the field, the latest edition of The Lupus Encyclopedia is essential for patients, health care providers, and families. Bonus content on insurance issues and information about working with lupus and disability is also available online. Endorsed by The Lupus Foundation of America Contributors: Jemima Albayda, MD; Divya Angra, MD; Alan N. Baer, MD; Sasha Bernatsky, MD, PhD; George Bertsias, MD, PhD; Ashira D. Blazer, MD; Ian Bruce, MD; Jill Buyon, MD; Yashaar Chaichian, MD; Maria Chou, MD; Sharon Christie, Esq; Angelique N. Collamer, MD; Ashté Collins, MD; Caitlin O. Cruz, MD; Mark M. Cruz, MD; Dana DiRenzo, MD; Jess D. Edison, MD; Titilola Falasinnu, PhD; Andrea Fava, MD; Cheri Frey, MD; Neda F. Gould, PhD; Nishant Gupta, MD; Sarthak Gupta, MD; Sarfaraz Hasni, MD; David Hunt, MD; Mariana J. Kaplan, MD; Alfred Kim, MD; Deborah Lyu Kim, DO; Rukmini Konatalapalli, MD; Fotios Koumpouras, MD; Vasileios C. Kyttaris, MD; Jerik Leung, MPH; Hector A. Medina, MD; Timothy Niewold, MD; Julie Nusbaum, MD; Ginette Okoye, MD; Sarah L. Patterson, MD; Ziv Paz, MD; Darryn Potosky, MD; Rachel C. Robbins, MD; Neha S. Shah, MD; Matthew A. Sherman, MD; Yevgeniy Sheyn, MD; Julia F. Simard, ScD; Jonathan Solomon, MD; Rodger Stitt, MD; George Stojan, MD; Sangeeta Sule, MD; Barbara Taylor, CPPM, CRHC; George Tsokos, MD; Ian Ward, MD; Emma Weeding, MD; Arthur Weinstein, MD; Sean A. Whelton, MD

One million people in the United States suffer from systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE or lupus), a chronic autoimmune disease that is potentially debilitating and sometimes fatal as the immune system attacks the body's cells and tissue, resulting in inflammation and tissue damage. SLE can affect any part of the body, but most often damages the heart, joints, skin, lungs, blood vessels, liver, kidneys and nervous system. The course of the disease is unpredictable, with periods of illness alternating with remission. It can be treated symptomatically, mainly with corticosteroids and immunosuppressants, though there is currently no cure. The symptoms of lupus vary widely, come and go unpredictably, and often mimic or are mistaken for other illnesses. As a result, patients present with varied symptoms to different practitioners and diagnosis can be elusive, with patients sometimes suffering unexplained symptoms and untreated lupus for years. Hence, a practical guide to the diagnosis and treatment of lupus is a valuable resource to an array of clinicians and may help expedite earlier diagnosis and better patient care. Part of the Oxford American Rheumatology Library, this concise, authoritative pocketbook describes the pathophysiology of lupus, diagnostic strategies and tools, and current and emerging therapeutic options, focusing on direct clinical applications for busy healthcare professionals. With 20 new tables and the most up-to-date information on the diagnosis, treatment and management of the condition, this second edition fulfills a need for a concise, practical guide to Lupus for clinicians that distills the principal features of this complicated, often misunderstood disorder.

The latest clinical trials and emerging therapies are reviewed in this informative guide to this disease of the immune system, along with specific topics addressing prevention, exercise, and diet, enhanced with a glossary of terms, appendix of related resource materials, and more.

Often considered the prototypic autoimmune disease, Lupus is characterized by protean manifestations and affects a wide range of organ systems. Despite widespread availability of anti nuclear antibody testing and other technological diagnostic advances, the diagnosis of lupus can be elusive, difficult, and inexact. Treatment of the disease can also be challenging. Advances in immunology and biotechnology have led to a burgeoning world of new therapies in development that offer patients the real possibility of new therapies and physicians and scientists novel insights into the pathogenesis of this complicated immunological disease. Lupus Erythematosus: Clinical Evaluation and Treatment summarizes the clinical aspects of lupus facing the general clinician in the 21st century. In this invaluable, practical book, the reader will find introductory chapters regarding general diagnostic and treatment principles, followed by chapters addressing the lupus-specific organ manifestations. Special topics regarding pregnancy and comorbidities are also presented. Written by highly experienced physicians with special expertise in lupus, Lupus Erythematosus: Clinical Evaluation and Treatment is an indispensable reference for the common and not so common problems affecting patients with lupus.