Lupus cases rising - experts

MANILA, Philippines - Experts have cautioned that global warming may contribute to lupus, an autoimmune disease that is known to have afflicted the late President Ferdinand Marcos.

According to Dr. Sandra Navarra, president of Rheumatology Educational Trust Foundation Inc. (RETFI) and an adult rheumatologist, they have already observed a rising trend in lupus patients that were coming to clinics in the past years.

Global warming, she said, may boost this increase since sunlight or ultraviolet rays are a major triggering factor for lupus.

“There is no real hard evidence but it may contribute… There’s one possibility.  There is nothing wrong if we help save our environment,” she said in a recent health forum organized by the Philippine College of Physicians.

The cause of lupus remains unknown but it can affect the joints and muscles, the skin, nervous system, kidneys, heart, lungs, blood-forming organs and blood vessels.

Aside from sunlight, the other triggering factors for symptoms to appear are physical, emotional and mental stress, smoking, and non-compliance to medications.

A fact sheet showed there are two types of lupus — the discoid lupus erythemamtosus which is a milder form, and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) which is “potentially more serious and can cause damage to several major organs of the body.”  

Citing records of the Lupus Inspired Advocacy (Luisa) Project, Navarra said there were 2,273 SLE patients from 1995 to 2010 seen in various rheumatology training institutions and private rheumatology clinics in the country.

The average age of the patients was 29, while children and adolescents accounted for 408 cases. Patients were predominantly females with a ratio of 15 to one.

Navarra described lupus as a “challenging disease for doctors” because there is a “wide range of manifestations.”

“Symptoms come one at a time, not all at the same time. There are no two types (of cases) that have similar symptoms. It is highly individualized,” she added.

Navarra said that while there is still no cure for lupus, there are drugs that can help manage the disease. An SLE patient, however, may have to spend some P6,000 for monthly medications alone.

According to Dr. Lyndon John Llamado, lupus is a “great mimic” as the symptoms that it manifests are similar to that of many other illnesses, and effects on different people vary.

Because of this, early diagnosis of lupus is difficult. Patients tend to see the dermatologists first because symptoms usually show initially on the skin through rashes.

Llamado said it is important for lupus to be detected early and treated properly to prevent complications, thus ensuring patients with quality life.