Healthy Outlook Blog

Lupus is a chronic inflammatory disease that occurs when your body’s immune system attacks your own tissues and organs. Inflammation caused by lupus can affect many different body systems, including your joints, skin, kidneys, blood cells, heart and lungs. The disease is diagnosed more often in young women like Lady Gaga but men, including R&B star Seal, are also afflicted. Lady Gaga says her aunt died of lupus in 1976, which ties in with research that suggests a genetic link as the disease appears to run in certain families.

Sometimes called “the great imitator” because its symptoms often mirror those of other diseases, sufferers experience fatigue, headaches, painful or swollen joints, fever, rash and hair loss, among other things.

“Because a lot of the symptoms are nonspecific in the early stages, lupus can still be somewhat difficult to diagnose” says DeLisa Fairweather, assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University. “The benefit with diagnosing lupus compared to other autoimmune diseases is that it is so well-known and doctors might be on the look out for it.”

I am curious about what tests Lady Gaga was given because there is no single diagnostic test for lupus. The ANA (anti-nuclear antibody) test is most commonly used to screen for the disorder. However, a positive ANA test doesn’t necessarily mean you have lupus. Instead, it helps narrow the range of possible diagnoses that could include lupus.

Fairweather studies autoimmune diseases closely and says that treatment research is geared toward calming down the hyper-immune response without getting rid of too much immunity that would put a patient at increased risk for infection. Due to her borderline test results, Lady Gaga isn’t undergoing lupus treatment.

“As of right now, I do not have it, but I have to take good care of myself,” the pint-sized dynamo known for her colorful and sometimes outrageous antics told King. The good news is that, with proper treatment, most people with lupus can lead active lives. That means that Lady Gaga won’t have to hang up her sequined-covered platforms even if she does develop the disease.

CONNECT THE DOTS

The Lupus Foundation is a great resource to learn more about lupus, its symptoms and treatments. The Lupus Research Institute and the Alliance for Lupus Research are both dedicated to the prevention, treatment and cure for lupus.