General Knowledge
Systemic lupus erythematosus is a common autoimmune disease with a prevalence of 70 to 100,000 per 100,000 people, mostly in young women. It is a chronic disease that alternates between flares and remissions. Vasculitis is caused by antigen and antibody reactions, resulting in tissue damage at different sites and producing the corresponding clinical manifestations. Because blood is supplied to all tissues and organs throughout the body, vascular involvement must cause damage to these tissues and organs, resulting in the corresponding clinical symptoms.
Signs of disease
If you have any of the following symptoms, you should go to the hospital immediately to avoid delaying the disease.
1. Fever of unknown origin;
2.Rash that cannot be explained by other diseases;
3.Multiple and recurrent episodes of joint pain and arthritis;
4, persistent or recurrent pleurisy, pericarditis and peritoneal class;
5.Pneumonia that cannot be controlled by antibiotics;
6, Raynaud’s phenomenon;
7, kidney disease or proteinuria;
8, thrombocytopenic purpura or hemolytic anemia;
9. False positive syphilis seropositivity.
Is SLE hereditary?
A large number of genetic epidemiological surveys show that although SLE has a certain tendency to be hereditary, it is not a hereditary disease, and its pathogenesis is the result of a combination of factors, including infection, mental, endocrine and environmental factors, in addition to genetic factors. Therefore, patients with SLE need not worry too much that their disease will be inherited to their children.
Is SLE contagious?
Although SLE has a certain genetic susceptibility and may be associated with certain viral infections, it is not an infectious disease and does not spread from person to person. A normal person who comes into contact with a patient will not get the disease at all. Therefore, lupus patients do not need to be isolated. Patients with SLE can work, study and participate in social activities as normal people do when their physical condition allows.
What foods should be avoided by SLE patients?
Certain foods can trigger or aggravate lupus disease and should be avoided in daily life. These foods include
1. Foods containing more photosensitive substances, including celery, yellow cauliflower, cilantro, figs, purple clover, rape, yellow mud snail, etc., which can aggravate the damaging effect of sunlight on lupus patients
Lupus erythematosus patients with internal heat of yin deficiency should not eat warm food, such as mutton, dog meat, venison, cinnamon, lychee, etc., which can aggravate the internal heat symptoms of patients after eating.
3. Certain foods that can easily cause allergies are mostly seafood, including shrimp, crab, snail, mussel, scallop, yellow fish, carp, etc., which are commonly known as hairy things. Some patients with lupus erythematosus will have allergy after consuming seafood (most patients with this disease are hypoallergenic), which will trigger or aggravate the disease.
4. Spicy and stimulating foods, such as chili, raw onion, raw garlic, mustard, etc. can aggravate the phenomenon of internal heat in patients and should not be consumed.
5, with immune upregulation of the role of food, such as mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms and other mushroom food. In addition, it is necessary to quit smoking and drinking, and eat less food that is not good for health such as smoked or fried.
What are the methods of treating SLE?
1.Salicylic acid and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs: such as aspirin, indomethacin or ibuprofen, which are mainly used for the treatment of SLE without visceral involvement and can relieve the symptoms of fever and joint pain caused by SLE.
2. Hormones and immunosuppressants; hormones and immunosuppressants are the most important drugs available for the treatment of SLE. The commonly used immunosuppressants include cyclophosphamide, azathioprine and methotrexate.
3.Anti-malarial drugs: commonly used chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine, with anti-photosensitivity, anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive effects, can control skin lesions and mild joint symptoms, mainly used for patients with mild disease and obvious skin damage.
4.Intravenous injection of gammaglobulin.
5.Plasma replacement and immunosorbent method.
6.Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: The mechanism of treatment is to remove the patient’s hematopoietic cells and immune system at a deep level by using immunosuppressants, and then to rebuild the normal immune cell system. The patient’s immune regulation can reach a new balance and/or immune tolerance in the process of reconstruction, which may completely alleviate or even completely cure SLE. We have completed the treatment of more than 20 cases with satisfactory recent results.