![]() People with well-controlled lupus can have normal life expectancies. “We have to make sure that we catch that diagnosis, especially in patients who are likely to get kidney disease, because the ones that we can treat and control early are the ones who tend to survive. This is especially true when your kidneys are involved, Dr. “We find that patients develop organ injury from their lupus over time, especially if they’re not treated and their lupus is not controlled,” says Ashira Blazer, MD, a rheumatologist and assistant professor in the department of medicine at NYU Langone Health in New York City. If the inflammation goes unchecked for a long time because you were misdiagnosed or not treated at all, you could experience organ damage and serious complications as a result. Lupus is considered a systemic disease because it can affect just about every organ in your body, from your skin to your heart to your GI tract. The Consequences of Misdiagnosing Lupus (or Getting a Delayed Diagnosis) The trouble is even those characteristic signs can be common in other conditions too. So what would make a provider suspicious? First off, your sex: A typical lupus patient is a woman, most often between the ages of 15 and 44, and often a woman of color (Black or Latina, to name two groups who have higher rates of the disease).Ī doctor would also be on the lookout for more characteristic signs of the disease, like swollen joints or a rash that gets worse in the sun, before ordering tests to check for auto-antibodies, says Dr. Read more here about common symptoms of lupus. ![]() “Some of the things that bother people with lupus can happen to almost anyone: some hair loss, some fever, some fatigue, some anemia.” Most people have these symptoms for about a year before their doctors get suspicious enough to check for lupus, she adds. Like many autoimmune conditions, the initial symptoms of lupus can be pretty non-specific, says Michelle Petri, MD, a rheumatologist and director of the Lupus Center at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, MD. This can make awareness of the disease tricky and complicate patients being able to get a timely diagnosis. They can also develop different symptoms as their disease progresses, or see symptoms come and go. Lupus can affect many different parts of the body, which is why people with the disease can display a wide range of symptoms, depending on which organ or tissues are involved. ![]() All autoimmune diseases have this in common: Your immune system mistakenly begins to attack your body, causing widespread inflammation, swelling, pain, and, over time, damage to your tissues and organs.
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