The most common cause of death is infection due to immunosuppression, a result in turn of medications intended to manage the disease. Chances are worse for men and children than for women. After the age of 60, the disease tends to turn benign. The only marker of prognosis in lupus is the anti-ds DNA antibody test and the most sensitive is the Anti-Smith test (Wikipedia)
The standard treatment for lupus has been limited to drugs, such as corticosteroids, anti-malarials and chemotherapy drugs (Wikipedia 2006). The only FDA-approved treatment has been the anti-malarial, Plaquenil. Researches into modern treatment have been enhanced by genetic discoveries, the mapping of the human genome in particular. There has been increased awareness and education about the disease since the 60s, which have also extended help to many sufferers. Records said there were approximately 270,000 to 1.5 million people stricken with lupus. There is no single test for lupus and it can take months or years to detect or diagnose it (National Institute of Health 2005). Many stools may be used for medical history, a complete examination, blood tests, skin biopsy, and kidney biopsy. Current treatment may involve a family doctor, a rheumatologist, a clinical immunologist, nephrologists, hematologist, dermatologist, neurologist, nurses, psychologist, and social worker. Their common goals will be to prevent or treat flares, reduce organ damage as well as swelling and pain (National Institute of Health). There have also been findings, which say that lupus affects African women three times more than Caucasians, Asians, Hispanics and Native Americans (Spencer 2006). Although survival rates have improved, more than half of SLE patients sustain permanent damage in one or more organ systems (Petri 1998). The most common manifestations are renal, hematologic and neurologic and which worsen the condition or conduce to death (Petri).
The major concentration of physicians in managing SLE patients is to treat the active phase without allowing the treatment to cause long-term damage (Petri 1998). This goal, in...
Controversies Over Women's Access Birth Control This study focuses on the article titled "Controversies over Women's Access to Birth Control" as written by Marcia Clemmitt. The author reviews different perspectives to close down the issue of dispensing birth control. It begins with an example of a pharmacist who refused to dispense his professional duty due to moral and religious practices. He viewed birth control as an immoral vice. The author explores
From the police officers' perspective, it did not matter whether I was a member of the upper class, educated, affluent or even an important person in the community. The only identification that mattered was my skin color. On that day, I encountered all three types of oppression. The state institution on my group and I oppressed us by unlawfully labeling us. Interpersonal oppression because I started to hate the
Consultant Pharmacists Impact on the Treatment of Hypercholesterolemia What is Cholesterol, and Why is it of Concern? Guidelines for Treating Hypercholesterolemia Management of Hypercholesterolemia Management of Hypercholesterolemia By Different Health Care Workers. Practical Management of Hypercholesterolemia Community Pharmacists and the Management of Hypercholesterolemia Economic Impact of Pharmacists' Treatment of Hypercholesterolemia This paper will look at the impact of consultant pharmacists on the treatment of hypercholesterolemia by physicians. Pharmacists have now assumed responsibilities outside the dispensing counter and have
Blood Cancer in Women When it comes to cancers in women, cancer of the ovaries, the breast or other areas that are specific to women are typically the primary focus. However, this report shall focus on a less prominent but still dangerous forms of cancer and that would be the blood-borne cancers. When it comes to such cancers, the three commonly known types are leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. While these cancers
Autoimmunity The immune system of the body must differentiate itself from harmful to repel invaders and to protect the integrity of the host without inducing autoimmunity. Any deficit in this function can cause the body to be vulnerable to infections, malignancies or over-reactivity to innocuous antigens, resulting immunopathology and autoimmunity. Autoimmunity is defined by pathological immune-based reactions which are usually persistent and have long duration, which involve self-antigens (autoantigens). Its clinical expression
It is often easier to impose this sort of control in a laboratory setting. Thus, true experiments have often been erroneously identified as laboratory studies" (Woolf, 2012). True experiments rigidly control for validity by attempting to isolate variables so that only a single independent variable is studies. The independent variable "is the variable that the experimenter manipulates in a study. It can be any aspect of the environment that
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