Lady Gaga May Have Lupus - But What Is It?
Symptoms LupusOn a recent appearance of "Larry King Live", Lady Gaga confessed that she had been tested for lupus and been diagnosed as "borderline positive". A more cynical observer might be inclined to conclude that Mademoiselle Gaga was making a play for even more publicity than the staggering amount that she's already gotten but her claim is not as unlikely as it sounds.
The truth is that a diagnosis of lupus can be quite difficult to make and sometimes takes multiple tests performed over years to reliably piece together all of the symptoms and arrive at a conclusion. Medical researchers are not even sure what causes lupus or who is most at risk of the disease.
So, what is lupus? Lupus is a severe malfunction of the bodys immune system. Out of control inflammation causes the immune system normally used to protect the body from infection to start to attack its own organs and tissues as if they were foreign invaders. Various systems of the body including the lungs, heart, skin, kidneys and even the red blood cells can all come under attack.
One of the factors that makes diagnosis of lupus so difficult is that the symptoms seem to have such a wide variation from one person to the next. Different symptoms and a range of severity from mild to severely debilitating can be found and these symptoms can also recede and flair up at various intervals over time.
Some common symptoms of lupus are muscle pain, swollen joints, a red rash (usually on the face), hair loss and extreme fatigue. Other people suffer from sensitivity to the sun, depression, headaches or seizures. To add to the confusion and uncertainty, these symptoms can come and go with new ones popping up and going away over the course of years. Some people experience symptoms in only one area of the body such as the joints while others may be afflicted only in the skin and mouth.
Living with lupus can be a challenge and staying healthy means being especially attentive to maintaining a healthy diet and adequate levels of exercise. One of the keys to living with the disease is developing a strategy to deal with the stresses of having a chronic disorder. Healthy diet, exercise and engaging in social activities and hobbies that reduce stress can be of significant help in reducing the symptoms of this condition and their severity.
John Fleming Health Correspondent http://www.healthyliving411.com
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