Systemic Lupus Erythematosus - Research Paper Example

Since other fibromyalgia, CNS diseases, autoimmune diseases and infections disease can present with involvement of multisystem disease, when diagnosis of SLE is being carried out, there is need to consider the possibilities of these other conditions. The disease is a multi-factorial, multisystem, chronic, and rarely life-threatening illness with environment, genetic and hormonal origins (Robinson, Sheets & Currie, 2011). It can also affect any part of the body including blood cells, nervous system, skin, joints, and kidneys.

Mostly, women aged 15-40 years are largely associated with SLE. Predominance of SLE In the U.S, the incidence levels reported annually is approximately 5.2% in every 100,000 people. The frequency of the disease differs with ethnicity and race. High rates of SLE are seen in women who are in the childbearing age. Higher rates of SLE have been reported in Hispanic and black people with an estimated 40 in every 100,000 white people in Rochester, Minnesota while in Nogales, Arizona a 100 Hispanics in every 100,000 have the disease.

However, there is less prevalence reported in the Northern Europe region, but the disease is mostly common in African Americans. Mina & Brunner (2010) also proposed that in an estimated number of 10 in 20% of the patients with SLE experience the disease prior adulthood. In international statistics, highest predominance levels have been report in Afro-Caribbean, Martinique, Italy, United Kingdom and Spain population. Even though the disease is seen more in the black people who reside in United Kingdom, it is less common in those who are in Africa.

This has been attributed to environmental influences (Patel et al., 2006). However, in terms of race, the black women possess a higher likelihood of getting the disease than white women and Asians. One in every two hundred and fifty African American women is reported to have the disease showing how widespread the disease is in women Furthermore, the highest predominance rates are seen in ninety percent of the female population while the prevalence rates are considerably lower in the male population.

Older men are affected by the disease compared to younger men but generally lupus is seen in very low rates among the male population (Alarcon et al., 2004). The death causes are mostly attributed to cardiovascular disease, organ failure, infections and active disease. The survival rate has progressed signifying that milder cases of SLE are being recognized. Over the past period of four years, the survival rate of patients with the disease has increased to 80% as opposed to that of the last fifteen years which was 50% showing that there is some progress in research.

Pathophysiology Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus usually have a complicated range of abnormalities concerning their body defense system. SLE is connected with triggering 2 key components of the adaptive immunity, T and B cells (Alarcon et al., 2004). The abnormalities which target the adaptive immune system consist of production of autoantibodies as well as defective killing of T-Cells. In patients with SLE, the T cells usually express a smaller amount of IL-2. This is the main cytokine for differentiation, activation and proliferation of T-cells.

The T-cells in SLE patients have a problem with signaling responses which result to the small IL-2 and CD3 amount. These abnormalities cause a decreased cytotoxic activity. Moreover, there is an incapability to repress