Campaigners are trying to raise awareness of lupus, an autoimmune condition famously suffered by Selena Gomez.
Experts from the Lupus Foundation of America have said a better definition for lupus is needed to prevent premature deaths, as currently ambiguity is leading to six-plus- year-waits for a diagnosis.
It comes as Selena Gomez spoke out again about her lupus diagnosis after her social media followers pointed out how her hands were ‘shaking’ in a recent clip.
She was initially diagnosed in 2014 with the autoimmune disease, and was forced to undergo a kidney transplant three years later due to the condition.
Lady Gaga and Nick Cannon have also struggled with variations of the condition.
Clarification: Ms Gomez later clarified that the shaking in her hands was indeed a side effect brought on by her lupus
Ms Gomes shared a clip to TikTok earlier this month showing off her makeup and skincare routine, in which her hands appeared unsteady.
The 30-year-old singer-songwriter later clarified that the shakiness was indeed a side effect brought on by her lupus medication.
Systemic lupus erythematosus, more frequently known as lupus, is an autoimmune disease.
It happens when the body’s immune system mistakes its own tissues and organs as foreign, and makes proteins called autoantibodies which attack them.
According to the Mayo Clinic, the disease causes inflammation which can affect your joints, skin, kidneys, blood cells, brain, heart and lungs.
The condition affects around one in 200 people in the US, and more than five million people worldwide.
There is no cure for the disease but treatments can help reduce symptoms.
No two cases of lupus are the same, making it notoriously difficult to diagnose.
Symptoms of lupus include pleural effusions (a build up of fluid in the lungs), heart and kidney problems, arthritis and and Raynaud’s phenomenon (when fingers turn white or blue in response to stress or cold). A butterfly rash across the face is also a key sign
One telltale sign is a facial rash that looks like a butterfly across both cheeks, but it does not occur in all cases — including Ms Gomez’s.
Symptoms can vary in severity and last for different amounts of time. The majority of lupus sufferers have mild symptoms which flare up into more serious temporary episodes, from time to time.
The most common symptoms are tiredness, fever, joint pain such as stiffness and swelling, skin lesions which worsen in sunlight, shortness of breath and chest pain.
Dry eyes, headaches, confusion and memory loss, and fingers turning white or blue in the cold or when someone is stressed can also occur.
The signs are similar to those for a lot of other illnesses, which means it is tricky to know when it is lupus.
The LFA’s report, published yesterday, said that lupus can take up to six years or even longer to diagnose due to the disease’s lack of a clear definition.
Delays in diagnosis can even lead to premature deaths, it said.
There are only diagnostic criteria for the most serious and common kind of lupus.
The LFA hope that creating a definition for that encompasses the whole spectrum of the disease will reduce the time for patients to get a diagnosis.
Some people are born predisposed to lupus, which could be brought on by infections, certain medications or sunlight.
The Mayo Clinic recommends seeing a doctor if you have an unexplained rash or a fever, aching or fatigue that persists.
Sixty percent of people with lupus will have kidney complications.
One such complication is lupus nephritis, which happens when lupus autoantibodies attack the parts of the kidneys that filter out waste.
This can inflame the kidneys and cause them to not work properly and even fail.
In 2017, Ms Gomez received a kidney transplant from her best friend due to her lupus condition.
As with most people who have had transplants, Ms Gomez will take medication to suppress her immune system, which can cause shaky hands.
Immunosuppressants may activate the binding sites on muscle cells, which causes tremors.
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