11 symptoms used to diagnose lupus
the American College of Rheumatology says that if a patient has at least four
of these eleven signs though not necessarily all at the same time they
can be diagnosed with lupus one butterfly rash a persistent rash across
the cheeks and nose in the general shape of a butterfly is very characteristic of
lupus says dr. Gary Gill Carson MD a professor of medicine at the Medical
University of South Carolina in Charleston while about 30 percent of
lupus patients typically get this rash it can also be due to Rose Afiya or
other skin conditions and the symptom alone is not enough to make a diagnosis
of lupus to sunlight triggered rash exposure to sunlight or other sources of
ultraviolet light even artificial can worsen the lupus patients butterfly ash
it can also trigger sores on other parts of the body usually on Sun exposed areas
and lead to joint pain and fatigue fair-skinned patients tend to be most
affected however dr. Gill Kison warns that the symptom can be overused in
diagnosis it is a confusing one he says a lot of people say that they are Sun
sensitive three mouths or nasal sores mouth ulcers are one of the most common
symptoms of lupus but what makes a lupus Mel Belser unique
says dr. Gill Kison is that it usually comes pain free and rather than
developing on the sides of the mouth or gums these sores typically reside on the
roof of the mouth lupus related ulcers can also appear
inside the nose
for joint swelling joints that are red warm tender and swollen may signal lupus
eating and stiffness alone aren't enough the joints have to be affected by
arthritis and these other cardinal signs of inflammation says michael belmont
maryland director of the lupus clinic at bellevue hospital and medical director
at the New York University Hospital for joint diseases in New York City
dr. belmont notes that at least two joints typically smaller ones have to be
persistently affected for at least six weeks for the symptom to qualify as one
of the four Diagnostics five inflammation of the lining of the heart
or lung inflammation of the lining around the heart pericarditis or lumps
pleuritis can be a sign of lupus but both conditions are more commonly due to
viral illnesses says dr. belman even though the inflammation rarely affects
the functioning of either the heart or lungs it can cause sharp chest pain
especially when a person is coughing or taking a deep breath and may
occasionally spark shortness of breath 6 urine abnormalities microscopic blood
cells and proteins that are not normally found in urine can appear in the urine
samples of some lupus patient yet again a lot of other illnesses can be to blame
including urinary tract infections and kidney stones a healthy kidney filters
proteins out of the blood as a creator in explains dr. Belmont but if the
kidney is inflamed and not functioning properly as can be the case with lupus
proteins may sneak into the urine these abnormalities don't usually cause
symptoms however if the loss of protein specifically albumin is substantial the
feed may swell and if someone has progressed to kidney failure he or she
might have some nausea and weakness 7 seizures or psychosis lupus can trigger
a variety of brain and nervous system problems including nonspecific symptoms
like anxiety headaches and vision problems however
two additional concrete symptoms make the list seizures and psychosis which is
a break from reality and can include delusions and hallucinations for less
specific symptoms like headaches it can be difficult to tease apart whether they
are caused by lupus the medications used to treat it or the stress of living with
a disease 8 anemia anemia or an inadequate number of circulating red
blood cells is very common especially in Lucas's target population women iron
deficiency anemia for example is frequently present during menstrual
cycles more specific to lupus however he is a disorder called hemolytic anemia
it's not just a low blood count the condition is actively destroying the
cells explains dr. Gill Kison adding that certain lab tests can tell the
types of heart 9 discoid rash a destroyed rash is fairly classic in
Lucas says dr. Gill Kherson the disc-shaped patches appear red and
raised and typically develop I'm a face scalp and neck they often leave scars
while relatively common in SLE eat discoid lashes can also stand alone in a
diagnosis of discoid lupus a type that affects only the skin the singer seal
has been diagnosed with destroyed Luo person has facial scars as a result 10
positive ena tests the anti-nuclear antibody ena test is the go-to screening
test for lupus if the result is negative says dr. Gill Carson you can almost
guarantee that a patient doesn't have lupus on the other hand a positive
result is much less clear 90% to 95% of people who have a positive ena test
don't have lupus anaise are proteins made by the body that can attach to DNA
and other substances inside cells but just because they are present in the
body doesn't necessarily mean they will attack these substances
these antibodies are found in at least 5% of the general population so there
are many more people walking around with a anaise who are perfectly healthy or
have some illness that has nothing to do with lupus ABS dr. Belmont
11 other anti biting tests - enamel which people with positive aana tests
actually have lupus additional blood work can be done doctors look for other
potentially troublesome antibodies still they will test for anti double-stranded
DNA and anti Smith antibodies these tests are less likely to be positive
unless a patient truly has lupus however a person who has negative test results
could still have lupus even though this is not so in the case of a na tasks
these confirmatory antibodies are very critical to the accuracy and reliability
of the diagnosis says dr. Baumann this series of tests combined with the a na
he adds will usually provide a fairly reliable answer