THE LEDGER-STAR
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 21, 1994 TAG: 9407210730
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE
LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
Systemic lupus erythematosus, a little-known killer disease that mostly attacks young women, is more prevalent than previously believed, experts said Wednesday.
``Until recently, lupus was believed to be a rather rare disease,'' said Dr. Robert Lahita, a lupus researcher at New York City's St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital. ``A nationwide survey indicates it may affect 1.4 million to 2 million Americans.''
Discovered in the early 1800s, systemic lupus erythematosus - or SLE, as physicians call it - was thought to be a skin disease, but researchers have determined it damages the kidneys, joints, heart, lungs, central nervous system, blood and skin.
Lahita said lupus is the opposite of AIDS, which destroys the body's defense system. In contrast, lupus causes the body's defenses to run wild and attack the body's cells and connective tissues.
``Lupus can cause kidney failure, meningitis (brain swelling), heart failure, infections, strokes and bleeding,'' he noted.
More than 90 percent of lupus victims are women between the ages of 18 and 50, many of them blacks, Latinos and Asians. Lahita said lupus kills several thousand Americans and causes 16,000 to 20,000 new cases annually.
The disease can be slowed by drugs, but many victims die after 10 years, Lahita said.
Lahita said lupus is difficult to diagnose because it mimics many other illnesses. A confirmed diagnosis usually takes one to two years. As yet, physicians don't know what causes the disease, but speculate it may be passed from parents to children and be aided by a virus.
The disease's first symptoms are a red, butterfly-shaped rash on the face. Later symptoms are fatigue, loss of appetite, weight loss and pains in the joints. Serious cases destroy the kidneys and attack the membrane surrounding the heart.
The increased estimate of the lupus cases was revealed by a nationwide telephone poll. The poll, sponsored by the Lupus Foundation of America, determined the disease is far more widespread than hitherto estimated.
Lahita and the Lupus Foundation want scientists at the National Institutes of Health to conduct a scientific investigation to confirm the telephone poll.
If the disease is as common as the poll indicates, the NIH should increase its lupus research program, Lahita said.
KEYWORDS: LUPUS
by CNB