This is another auto immune form of arthritis , more commonly referred to as “lupus” . The name lupus (the latin for wolf ) comes from a butterfly shaped rash which often covers the face of sufferers , giving them a wolf like appearance . It is most common in women in late adolescence or early adulthood . although it can strike at any age , like rheumatoid arthritis , lupus is confined to any attack on the joints . It attacks the whole body and can seriously damage the brain , kidneys and other vital organs . however , when it is the joints under attack , the symptoms are very similar to those of rheumatoid arthritis , other symptoms depend on where it attacks , if the heart is involved , there will be chest .
Some lupus sufferers have such mild symptoms , they need no drugs at all.
Pain or irregular heart beat , if the nervous system is attacked , this may affect the mental health of the patient . If the kidneys are the target ; then the person can suffer from hypertension (high blood pressure ) and general swelling all over the body . Bleeding gums and skin rashes are also common with lupus . Exposure to the sun can cause flare ups and over tiredness . Pregnancy , emotional stress and infection can also trigger .
All of these symptoms sound very scary but if you suspect that you have lupus , you should see your doctor immediately , the good news is that thousands of lupus sufferers are at the very low end of the spectrum with very mild symptoms
Treatments :
Lupus may be treated with low doses of corticosteroid drugs , one of the NSAIDS or an antimalarial drug , such as plquenil about 25 % of lupus sufferers have symptoms so mild that they need no drug therapy at all , but in the majority of cases , your doctor will probably prescribe corticosteroid drugs to reduce the inflammation and to decrease the abnormal amount of antibodies produced by the disease , because of possible side effects , corticosteroids are only used as a last resort in the majority of arthritic diseases , but the severity of lupus can be such that many physicians advise their use quite early on , believing their benefits out weight the risks , since lupus often goes into periods of remission , it’s advisable to use the corticosteroids for as short a time as possible , to minimize any problems .
Case History :
Systemic lupus erthematous with rheumatic arthritis
Mrs SJ aged 37 years presented with joint pain with swelling of affected joint < knees (both). She developed arthritis after having some trouble for about 2 months and now almost every joint . Arthritis first affected small joints and involved big joints and now almost every joint +++<winter , weight loss , fever < evening ,chronic sinusitis , head ache , hyper acidity , appetite-normal , mental-anger-despair; pains ++, dutiful diagnosed in a reputed hospital as SLE with R.A (systemic lupus erythematous with rheumatoid arthritis ) o/e –joints , soft swelling –effusion , tender
Homoeopathic Medicine : Kali Iod 200 Daily one dose for 7 days . this medicine was repeated for one year , once in 3 months for one week .
Result : pain reduced gradually to near normal , now for almost one year . no medicine , no swelling , no stiffness , no head ache . completely allopathic medicines stopped . blood reports – normal ,
Many homoeopathic physicians both past and present have done excellent cases for skin lupus .
