State & Lake

I saw my doctors recently, the Rheumatologist and the Nephrologist, and soon I will see my GP for even more fun with specialists.  It seems, according to her, I’m at that age where I need to have eye spy take a look up the . . . well, I’ll leave that one alone.  Bottom line, [...]

Lupus affects the brain very early in the disease — Results of a brain imaging study suggest that the brain may be affected very early in the course of lupus, even before the disease is diagnosed.  Among a group of 97 patients with newly diagnosed SLE, 25 percent had brain abnormalities on magnetic resonance imaging [...]

Attention to bones important in women with lupus — Among premenopausal women taking steroids for lupus, various treatments preserve bone mineral density and “should be considered” for preventing the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis, advise researchers in a report published this month.  [Read More]

Social Security Blogger Includes Lupus Info – A popular blogger and former social security disability examiner, Tim Moore, recently added a post on his blog My Social Security Disability Blog providing information for those filing on the basis of lupus.  The social security administration recognizes lupus as a disability, but many people still have difficulty [...]

Memory a Problem for Lupus Patients, Study Finds — The National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver has discovered that patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) tend to have subtle problems with attention, memory and reasoning when compared to those without lupus. The research group studied 67 SLE patients free of psychiatric and neurologic [...]

A friend of mine has this curious little response after exchanging greetings over the phone.  She always asks me “What’s been doing?”  I’ve never asked her where she got that or what it means.  What I do know is every time I hear her say it I find comfort.  So, what’s been doing with me?
December [...]

Kiki is a self-taught artist whose work is stunning, beautiful and sometimes alarming.  The alarming represents the internal pain only an artist can convey.  Kiki is also one of the moderators on the Sistahs With Lupus Yahoo Group and over the years she welcomed new members to the group and has always offered help and [...]

Lupus knocks down mother of four — A little less than a year ago, Susan was working and providing a good living for herself and her four children.  She provided daycare in her home, so feeling tired at the end of the day wasn’t unusual.  “But then I had real fatigue. I wanted to sleep [...]

Cell Receptor Identified As Target For Anti-inflammatory Immune Response — Researchers at The Rockefeller University found that a receptor known to shield HIV and Hepatitis C from an effective immune response is also essential to the therapeutic effects of a common anti-inflammatory drug, intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG). The finding opens up new possibilities for developing drugs [...]

That was my question when I first heard the word fibromyalgia.  It’s a horrible little something that makes my life miserable and often, when this horrible little something arrives, I find myself pondering how I so hate my life.  Thank God the thought is fleeting because all of my life I have had to deal [...]

Live Web Chat Examines Healthy Eating And Weight Management In Lupus — An estimated 1.5 million Americans and at least five million people worldwide are living with some form of lupus, an unpredictable and potentially fatal autoimmune disease. While medications are important to managing lupus, there also are a number of lifestyle adjustments people with [...]

Risk of kidney failure higher among blacks with lupus nephritis - Racial and ethnic disparities in systemic lupus erythematosus, and one of its worst complications, kidney failure, continue to grow in the U.S. The number of new cases of kidney failure due to lupus occurring among African Americans has now surpassed that in Caucasians, with [...]

When it’s more than fatigue: Learn about lupus — A septuagenarian might expect to deal with joint pain, swelling of the extremities and bad circulation, but what do you do when, as a 13-year-old kid, you wake up with hands so puffy you can’t close them?  Kelby Mathews went on to school the day her [...]

Wow, my last post was supposed to be this post but somehow I ended up on another topic altogether.  Well, moving on.
HealthNews Blog has a great article on stress entitled “Stress: How It Affects Us” by Joel Nathan.  It’s a great article because Nathan talks about how stress can adversely affect your health and I [...]

Trouble for European Lupus Sufferers - This was an interesting article I read in the Belfast Telegraph. It’s a measure that’s meant to bring Europe closer to being green by reducing its carbon footprint. But the method by which it is doing so — getting rid of all standard light bulbs and replacing them with [...]

A couple’s struggle — Hanging on to Health Care.  Studies show that for many working people, health-care premiums are rising faster than wages. But for disabled people like the Van Dykes, the cost of health care under Missouri’s Medicaid system, now called MO HealthNet, has all but wiped them out. [Read More]

Toxic Environment[/caption]
That little headline got my attention a while back and now it and the attached image are following me.  No, I’m not being paranoid.
Every now and then I do a search for all things Lupus and lately an article on toxins in our environment has been popping up on a number of health sites.  [...]

Mervyn Dymally - Photo Credit: Robert Durell, Los Angeles Times [/caption]
Interesting story.  Apparently, two former staffers, Jason and Tamara Mitchell (husband and wife), filed a claim against Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally (D-Compton) claiming Dymally violated state law by telling them they could not take more time off work for medical reasons and retaliated when they complained [...]

FDA Reports Deadly Brain Infection With Rituxan — The agency says a woman died of the rare viral infection more than a year and a half after discontinuing the drug, which is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and is marketed in the US by Genentech and Biogen Idec.  [Read More]

Positive Makeup : Nicole Paxson[/caption]
The fall issue of Lupus Now is out and it covers some very important issues:
– The many ways people with lupus complete their families by Lisa Tillman
– Winter Relief — Tips for Living A Full And Rewarding Life
– Living With Lupus — Sorting The Facts From Fiction
– The 411 on 911 [...]

I’ve been battling anemia for a few weeks though I did not know about it until last week when my doctor informed me.  As long as I have suffered with anemia you would think I’d recognize the signs when it comes up.  I did not and this is why I had such difficulty at the [...]

Disability claimants wait … and wait — There’s a backlog of 750,000 people trying to prove they deserve those disability payments. Later this month Congress is going to weigh in on what to do about it.  Today, a lot of people with hard-to-prove illnesses apply for disability benefits. They have Lupus or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. [...]

Human Genome Sciences Completes Enrollment In Second Phase 3 Lymphostat-B(R) Trial - “If LymphoStat-B is successful in Phase 3, we believe that it could represent a breakthrough in the treatment of patients suffering from SLE,” said H. Thomas Watkins, President and Chief Executive Officer, HGS. “We have now completed enrollment in both of our LymphoStat-B [...]

Looking for Lupus Clinical Trials? – The Lupus Foundation of America is launching the Center for Clinical Trials Education as a resource for people interested in learning about and joining lupus clinical trials.   Its initial programs include a Web site (www.lupus.org/clinicaltrials) and plans for grassroots community education programs on clinical research offered through the LFA’s [...]

It is often difficult to explain the on again off again symptoms of lupus and the flares.  There are days we look well and can push ourselves to the extreme.  Then there are the days we can barely rise from bed, put on clothes or muster the energy to make a pot of coffee.
It is [...]

Raytheon’s cleanup history is a bit spotty - More than 90 federal lawsuits have sought to stick Raytheon with the cost of removing or cleaning up tainted soil. Residents of St. Petersburg’s Azalea neighborhood in April became the latest to seek legal help, seeking a quick cleanup of their community.  The pollution was first found [...]

Potentially Fatal Disease Going Unnoticed - Millions of Americans are living with a dangerous disease and don’t even know it.  More than 30,000 Hoosiers have lupus and 500 of those people live in Vigo County.  Despite the numbers, lupus remains an under-recognized health issue. Doctors want to educate the public on the dangers associated with [...]

Flickr Photo Credit: ecstaticist.  Please check out his photo feed, he has some of the most beautiful images.

In a few weeks I will draw to a close my self-imposed mental exile.  As a gift to myself, I made a decision earlier in the year to not push myself too hard mentally and to lead a [...]

How nice is that?  I really can’t tell you how warm and fuzzy that has made me feel.  I suspected pleurisy but when I last experienced it some ten plus years ago, I did not remember it being sooooo painful.  This also comes with an interesting story.
I had this older doctor who must have known [...]