Symptoms Of Lupus During Pregnancy
Lupus is a disorder which affects organ systems, skin and joints. It can be found in both men and women, but chances of its affecting women are much more. It mostly occurs between the ages of ten to fifty. Data suggests that it is hereditary in nature however it can occur in cases where there is no family history. Lupus occurs when antibodies attack the healthy cells. It can also be caused by some medicines.
This disease affects vast areas of the body of the patient. It mostly affects joints and is a cause for joint pain. This is also a cause of arthritis in hands. The skin is affected by rashes, skin lesions and painful nodules appear on the skin. Instances of kidney failure have also been reported, this requires dialysis. The nervous system can also be affected by this disease, resulting in seizure or severe headache. The internal membranes of the patient also get affected resulting is swelling and heart and other organ failure.
No cure has been found for this disease. Physicians, while treating lupus, try to concentrate on the side effects. Anti-inflammatory drugs are given in case of joint swelling and to treat skin rashes certain lotions or creams are prescribed. The symptoms have to be closely monitored and remedial measures taken immediately.
Change of lifestyle is essential for treatment of patient. Stress free life helps immensely. The patient may also have to change dietary habits. Balanced diet and some exercise have been found to be helpful.
Steroids have been found to be helpful in extreme cases of inflammation. Steroids do have side effects like water retention in body, weight gain and sometimes depression. However these side effects disappear when the dose of steroids is stopped or reduced.
There are diverse views amongst medical fraternity about pregnancy in women suffering from lupus. One school of thought is that having a child can be tried in cases where the instances of lupus are not very severe. However there are risks of miscarriage during the early months of pregnancy. Due to formation of lumps, blood clots and high blood pressure in mothers the child may be born with neonatal lupus resulting in blood abnormalities. It takes about three months for the child to recover.
The woman who has delivered a child sometimes goes in depression needing a lot of moral support from family. Breast feeding involves lot of fatigue and is stressful as such is not recommended. Due to stress lupus gets aggravated.