Diagnosis Pt. 2-Diagnostic Criteria

 In order to be diagnosed with lupus, certain criteria must be met. Previously diagnosis was based on having four out of the eleven criteria which included symptoms such as malar rash and arthritis, as well as lab tests such as anti-double stranded DNA.  You could...

Diagnosis Pt. 1

  Lupus can be very hard to diagnose due to the variety and vagueness of symptoms that patients experience. Oftentimes, it takes many years before a patient is correctly diagnosed with lupus. I had symptoms for many years, but they were very mild and infrequent...

Do I Have Lupus?/What are the Symptoms?

  The list of symptoms that people experience with Lupus is extensive. It is often hard to diagnose Lupus based on symptoms alone because the symptoms are often very vague and mimic other diseases. Here is a list of some of the more common Lupus symptoms: Joint...

What is Lupus?

  Lupus is a chronic, autoimmune disease that causes inflammation in various parts of the body.  Our immune systems normally attack foreign invaders such as bacteria and viruses, but in an autoimmune disease the immune system does not recognize healthy cells and...

What is Considered a Chronic Disease?

Chronic disease is a disease that is sustained for a long period of time, typically longer than a year. According to the CDC, six out of ten people have a chronic disease. Chronic diseases are noncommunicable, meaning that  they cannot be passed from person to person....