Tuesday, October 25, 2011

I read in Article entitled "Black Women With Systemic Lupus Erythematosis (SLE) Develop Cardiovascular Disease(CVD) at Early Age."
Being a Black Women with SLE this article caught my attention. The article stated that the youngest age for that a woman has had the disease and having Lupus was 53.9 years of age. This research was conducted by a researcher of medicine at Penn State College. Also, african american woman is the youngest that someone has died from the disease and been diagnosed with the disease. The researchers found out 3, 627 admissions for CVD with SLE among females had an average age of 60.8 and without SLE who were admitted had an average age of 71.3.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Research Proposal: Lupus

My research proposal topic is going to be: how Lupus comes and effects different individual lives? Lupus is a disease that affects the immune system. Many people don't know they have Lupus when they get it. The symptoms are similar to many other diseases known to man. Lupus is usually comes from a genetic trait and you may have or you may not. Lupus can affect your joints, skin, and almost every organ in your body, such as kidneys, lungs, brain, liver, etc.

Many things can trigger Lupus in the body, such as sunlight, stress or a slight infection. Anyone can be affected by Lupus even children, but most people have the trait in their genes. It is known that people of colored are more likely to be affected than Caucasians. Common symptoms of lupus include low-grade fever, extreme fatigue, and painful or swollen joints. There is a lupus rash, which often manifests as a butterfly-shaped reddish or purplish rash across the bridge of the nose and cheeks, is another common sign. This is called the butterfly affect. There are blood tests that a doctor can use to help diagnose lupus.

Lupus is a part of many individuals’ lives in this community, including mine. I was diagnosed with it when I was 15 and I know just in my father’s household; my dad’s girlfriend mother and I both have it, so I’m sure many other individuals do too.

As I keep studying Lupus I would like to learn how are doctors working to cure lupus and are they still taking the time to develop more treatments to reduce flare ups. Also, I would like to find out why are people of color more likely to be affected by Lupus. Is it something that is dated back in history, was it passed from Africa or was it developed here in America?