Lupus affects more than 60,000 people in Italy. However, since symptoms can often be confused with those of other conditions, diagnosing it is not always easy. It is important to know the warning signs and diagnostic procedures, so that you do not get caught unprepared. It is also helpful to find out the causes to avoid potential triggers.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: Recognizing the Symptoms of Lupus
Step 1. Examine your face to see if you have butterfly rash
About 30% of people with lupus develop a characteristic rash on the face that often resembles a butterfly or wolf bite. The erythema extends to the nose and cheeks (often covering them entirely), and can also affect a section of skin near the eyes.
- Also check for discoid rashes on the face, scalp, and neck. These rashes are red, raised patches. They can be so aggressive that they leave a scar even after healing is complete.
- Pay particular attention to rashes triggered or worsened by the sun. Sensitivity to ultraviolet rays (natural or man-made) can cause skin lesions on exposed body parts and worsen a butterfly rash on the face. This type of erythema is more severe and develops faster than a normal burn.
Step 2. See if you have oral or nasal ulcers
If there are frequent ulcers on the palate, on the sides of the mouth, on the gums or in the nose, be careful. In particular, you should know that these ulcers tend to have different characteristics from the normal ones, in fact in most cases they are painless.
If they get worse in the sun, then they are an even more obvious wake-up call. In this case we speak of photosensitivity
Step 3. Find out if you have symptoms associated with inflammation
Individuals with lupus often have inflammation affecting the joints, lungs, and pericardium. As if that weren't enough, blood vessels usually become inflamed as well. You may notice irritation and swelling especially in the area of the feet, legs, hands and eyes.
- Joint inflammation can have symptoms similar to those of arthritis. Joints may also feel warm to the touch, sore, swollen and red in appearance.
- Heart and lung inflammation can be detected in the home. If you experience sharp chest pain when you cough or breathe deeply, this is a possible symptom. The same is true if you feel short of breath when performing these actions.
- Other symptoms of heart and lung inflammation include abnormal heart rhythms and coughing up blood.
- Inflammation can also affect the digestive system, with symptoms such as abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting.
Step 4. Pay attention to urine
Abnormalities aren't easy to spot around the house, but you can look into some symptoms. If a kidney cannot filter urine due to lupus, the feet may swell. On the other hand, if you have started suffering from kidney failure, you may feel nauseous or weak.
Step 5. See if you have brain or nerve problems
Lupus can affect the nervous system. Some symptoms, such as anxiety, headaches and vision problems, are quite common, so they are hardly associated with lupus. However, seizures and personality changes are very specific and relevant symptoms.
Headache is a very common symptom, therefore, since it can have various causes, it is hardly attributed to lupus
Step 6. Ask yourself if you are feeling more tired than usual
Extreme fatigue is another common symptom of lupus. In fact, it can be due to a whole range of factors, although they are often traceable to lupus. When it is accompanied by fever, it is even more likely that it is this disease.
Step 7. Examine other anomalies
For example, the fingers and toes may be discolored (becoming whitish or blue) when exposed to cold. This disorder is called Raynaud's phenomenon and is typical of lupus. You may also experience dry eyes and shortness of breath. If all of these symptoms occur at the same time, it is possible that it is lupus.
Method 2 of 3: Diagnosing Lupus
Step 1. Prepare for a medical examination
Your primary care physician can diagnose lupus, but will recommend specialist visits to do more in-depth examinations with laboratory tests and instrumental diagnoses. In any case, the process usually begins by going to the family doctor.
- Before your appointment, write down the date you started seeing symptoms and how often. Also list the medicines and supplements you take - they could be triggers.
- If a close family member (parent, brother or sister) has lupus or another autoimmune disease, you should have specific information. The medical history of the patient and his family is very important in diagnosing lupus.
Step 2. Prepare for an antinuclear antibody (ANA) test
ANAs are antibodies that attack the body's tissues and are present in most individuals with an active form of lupus. This test is often an initial checkup, so a positive result does not always confirm a diagnosis of lupus. Further tests are needed to be sure.
For example, a positive result can also indicate scleroderma, Sjögren's syndrome, and other autoimmune diseases
Step 3. Get a complete blood count to measure red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, and hemoglobin
Certain abnormalities can be just as symptomatic as lupus. For example, this test can detect anemia, a common sign of this autoimmune disease.
Remember that this test is not enough to diagnose lupus. Many other diseases can cause similar abnormalities
Step 4. You may have a blood test to measure the erythrocyte sedimentation rate
This test measures the rate at which red blood cells settle to the bottom of a tube in one hour. A fast rate can be a symptom of lupus, but it can also be a symptom of other inflammatory disorders, cancer, and infections, so it's not enough to make a complete diagnosis.
A nurse will take a blood sample from your arm
Step 5. Learn about other blood tests
Since there is no unique test for lupus, doctors usually do several tests to check for it. To identify this autoimmune disease, 11 diagnostic criteria are considered: the patient must have at least 4 to confirm lupus. There are also other specialized tests, including:
- Anti-phospholipid antibodies (aPL) examination. With this test we go in search of antibodies that attack phospholipids. These antibodies tend to be present in 30% of lupus patients.
- Anti-Sm antibody examination. This antibody attacks the Sm protein in the cell nucleus and is present in approximately 30-40% of lupus patients. Furthermore, it rarely occurs among people who have not contracted this disease, so a positive result almost always guarantees a diagnosis of lupus.
- Anti-dsDNA examination. Anti-dsDNA is a protein that attacks double-stranded DNA and is found in nearly 50% of lupus patients. It is very rare for those who do not have this autoimmune disease, so a positive result is almost always a confirmation.
- Anti-Ro (SS-A) and anti-La (SS-B) tests. These antibodies attack RNA proteins in the blood. However, they are more common in patients who have Sjögren's syndrome.
- C-reactive protein examination (PCR). This protein produced by the liver can indicate the presence of inflammation, but it can also occur due to many other conditions.
Step 6. Your doctor may order a urinalysis
This test analyzes kidney function, in fact kidney damage can be a symptom of lupus. To do this, you will need to take a sample of your urine, which will then be examined for more protein or red blood cells.
Step 7. Learn about imaging tests
If your doctor is concerned that you have a form of lupus that affects the lungs or heart, they may order such a test. To examine the lungs, you will need to do a chest X-ray, and an echocardiogram for the heart.
- A chest X-ray may detect shadows in the lungs, which could indicate fluid or inflammation.
- Echocardiography uses ultrasound to measure the heartbeat and detect possible abnormalities.
Step 8. Consider if you need to take a biopsy
If your doctor is concerned that lupus has compromised your kidneys, they may prescribe a biopsy. The goal of this test is to take a sample of kidney tissue. The specialist will assess the state of the kidneys based on the extent and type of damage. With the biopsy, you can determine the best treatment for lupus.
Method 3 of 3: Learn about Lupus
Step 1. Learn more about lupus
It is an autoimmune disease, so the immune system attacks healthy parts of the body. It mainly affects organs, such as the brain, skin, kidneys and joints. It is a chronic condition, so it has a long-term effect. Since the immune system attacks healthy tissues, it causes inflammation.
There is no cure for lupus, but treating it can relieve symptoms
Step 2. There are 3 main types of lupus
When we talk about lupus, we usually mean systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), which impairs the skin and organs, especially the kidneys, lungs and heart. The other 2 types are cutaneous and drug-induced lupus erythematosus.
- Cutaneous lupus erythematosus affects only the skin and poses no threat to other organs. It rarely results in LES.
- Drug-induced lupus can affect the skin and internal organs, but is caused by the use of certain drugs. Healing usually occurs once the body completely expels them. Symptoms associated with this type of lupus are usually mild.
Step 3. Identify the causes
For doctors, lupus has always been a mystery, but over time they have identified its peculiar characteristics. It appears to be caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. In other words, if you have a congenital predisposition, it can be triggered by external factors.
- Some of the factors that tend to trigger lupus more frequently include medications, infections, or exposure to sunlight.
- Lupus can be triggered by sulfonamides, photosensitizing drugs, penicillin, or antibiotics.
- Psychic or physical factors that can trigger lupus include infections, a common cold, virus, fatigue, injury, or psychological stress.
- Lupus can be triggered by ultraviolet rays emitted from the sun or by fluorescent lights.
