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Since 2004, May 10 has been recognized as World Lupus Day. The opportunity to raise public awareness of this rare, autoimmune and debilitating disease which affects 20,000 to 40,000 people in France, often silent about what they are facing.
Do you know what lupus is? Unless you are directly impacted by the disease, it’s a safe bet not. Under this animal name (Lupus means wolf, in Latin) hides a well-known disease and people who suffer in silence. It is thus to highlight this condition that World Lupus Day has been held every May 10 since 2004.
Lupus: an autoimmune disease that affects several organs
Systemic lupus (LS), commonly called “lupus”, is a rare disease affecting the immune system. It is called “systemic” because the damage manifests itself in several organs at the same time, most often the skin, the kidneys, the joints, the lungs and the nervous system. Lupus is an autoimmune disease, which means that the patient’s immune system produces antibodies directed not against an external pathogen but against its own cells. This explains the large number of organs that can be affected as well as the multiplicity and variability of the symptoms observed.
Symptoms of lupus are usually multiple and evolve in an unpredictable way. Skin damage is the most common and the most characteristic with redness in the form of butterfly wings on the face or patches on the hands. Other symptoms may appear at:
- Joints (pain, swelling);
- Lungs (difficulty breathing);
- Or the kidneys (kidney damage may require dialysis).
Lupus is a chronic pathology whose evolution will extend over several years, during which periods of calm, called remissions, and very symptomatic periods, called flare-ups, will alternate. However, it is impossible to predict how the disease will progress in patients.
A predominantly female disease
According to the latest figures given, it is estimated that 20,000 to 40,000 patients are affected in France, of which 9 out of 10 cases are diagnosed in women.
There is also an increased presence of the disease in West Indian populations, and in particular in women with black skin.
Women who often tire, struggle with symptoms and have to review their daily lives but who, according to associations, also suffer from a lack of visibility and listening: it is difficult to make their voices heard when the symptoms are invisible and inconstant.
A purple butterfly to show support
Like Sidaction, or breast cancer, lupus also has its butterfly, purple, as support for patients who are waiting for recognition of their symptoms and the difficulties they face on a daily basis. Everyone is also invited to wear purple, in their accessories or clothes as so many messages of solidarity.