Commending Selena Gomez's Public Disclosure

Pop singer Selena Gomez’s recent announcement that she had been diagnosed with lupus is admirable because it helps raise awarenedss about the disease.

This is important because while it is estimated that as many as 1.5 million Americans suffer from lupus, not many know what it is. Lack of awareness about lupus and the large variety of symptoms associated with it frequently leads to long harmful delays in diagnosis for many patients.

Here are some facts about lupus:

• The disease targets young women of Hispanic, African American and Asian heritage.
• It is an autoimmune disease where the body’s immune system becomes hyperactive and attacks normal, healthy tissue.
• This results in inflammation in different organs including joints, skin, kidneys, blood, heart, brain and lungs.
• Patients can experience many different symptoms including fatigue, pain, fever, rashes, trouble breathing, depression, anxiety and many others.

Also, some have been surprised to learn that Ms. Gomez may have suffered a stroke and that part of her treatment program included chemotherapy. Approximately 30 percent of lupus patients have antibodies that put them at risk for blood clots, which – if they are in the brain or on the heart valves – can lead to stroke. Although we often associate chemotherapy only with cancer treatment, it is not uncommon to use chemotherapy for treatment of autoimmune diseases such as lupus. The choice of treatment for lupus depends on the organ systems involved and the severity of symptoms. Different kinds of chemotherapy may be used to treat those who suffer from a more severe degree of lupus such as kidney or brain involvement. The goals of treatment are to lessen lupus symptoms and get the patient into remission where the disease is quiet.

Frankly, the currently available treatment options for lupus aren’t ideal; chemotherapeutic drugs have many possible side effects. This is why doctors and researchers (our group included) continue to conduct research to develop other lupus treatments that will have less severe side effects than current treatments.