Do even know that your immune system can make you sick, or are you aware that people are suffering from acute and chronic pain caused by their immune system whose function is to fight off diseases? This is known as Lupus, a situation where the body is at war with itself.
Systemic Lupus erythematous ( SLE) commonly known as Lupus is an autoimmune disease, where your immune system which is supposed to be fighting off diseases now attacks the body, causing severe pain and inflammation in several parts of the body.
Over 100,000 cases of Lupus are diagnosed every year in Nigeria, this is because there is more awareness now of the illness, and several cases that were initially diagnosed to be other sicknesses eventually turned out to be Lupus, as it shares some common symptoms with other illnesses. The more confusing thing about Lupus is that there are no specific generalized symptoms as it differs from person to person, and persons between the ages of 15-45 are more prone to Lupus.
For some weird reasons, unknown to medical experts some of the cells in the body, gang up together like’ street thugs’ to start attacking the healthy tissues in the body, and not the germs or infections. Although some medical experts have been able to attribute the cause of Lupus to toxic environments, chemical reactions from drugs, and UV rays from the sun but these are just mere assertions with no real proof.
The common symptoms are severe joint pain commonly mistaken for Rheumatism, extreme fatigue, rash dry eyes, anemia, and epileptic seizures.
There is no cure for Lupus, but affected persons can manage the symptoms by going to therapy, practicing a healthy diet, getting enough sleep, and carrying out daily exercises. There are still several ways to manage this sickness which can only be recommended by a medical expert.
Mark of the Butterfly, a film produced by Orangeburg is a short film that raises awareness of Lupus.
Sending out Love ❤️ to all the Lupus Warriors out there.
