Cure Research for Lupus
Medications currently used in research into the treatment of Lupus:
Note:You must always seek professional medical advice about any treatment
or change in treatment plans.
Some of the different medications being used in the research into treatment of Lupus include:
Curable Types of Lupus
Possibly curable or rare types of Lupus include:
- SLE of the joints
- Retinal vasculitis related to SLE
- Psychosis related to SLE
- Deep vein thrombosis related to SLE
- Acute ischemia related to SLE
- more curable types...»
Rare Types of Lupus:
Some rare types of Lupus include:
- Retinal vasculitis related to SLE
- Psychosis related to SLE
- Deep vein thrombosis related to SLE
- Acute ischemia related to SLE
- Drug( isoniazid, hydralazine, chlorpromazine) associated SLE
- more rare types...»
Latest Treatments for Lupus
Some of the more recent treatments for Lupus include:
Treatments for Lupus
Treatments to consider for Lupus may include:
Cure Research discussion for Lupus:
The Many Shades of Lupus: NIAMS (Excerpt)
Research supported by NIAMS
is looking at these issues:
- Certain genes make some people more likely to have serious
complications, such as kidney disease. NIAMS researchers have found a
gene linked to a higher risk of lupus kidney disease in African
Americans. Changes in this gene keep the immune system from removing
harmful germ-fighters from the body after they've done their job.
Other genes may also play a role.
- Lupus is more common in women than in men. Researchers are looking
into the role of hormones and other male-female differences.
- One NIAMS project is testing a new drug that scientists hope will
have milder side effects than standard treatments. Another study is
testing a combination of two medicines. One is a standard drug and the
other is a new drug. Scientists hope that the combination will be more
effective and cause fewer side effects.
(Source: excerpt from
The Many Shades of Lupus: NIAMS)
Handout on Health Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: NIAMS (Excerpt)
Lupus is the focus of intense research as scientists try
to determine what causes the disease and how it can best be treated.
Some of the questions they are working to answer include: Exactly who
gets lupus, and why? Why are women more likely than men to have the
disease? Why are there more cases of lupus in some racial and ethnic
groups? What goes wrong in the immune system, and why? How can we
correct the way the immune system functions once something goes wrong?
What treatment approaches will work best to lessen or cure lupus
symptoms?
To help answer these questions, scientists are developing
new and better ways to study the disease. They are doing laboratory
studies that compare various aspects of the immune systems of people
with lupus with those of other people both with and without lupus. They
also use mice with disorders resembling lupus to better understand the
abnormalities of the immune system that occur in lupus and to identify
possible new therapies.
The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal
and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), a component of the National Institutes of
Health (NIH), has a major program of lupus research in its intramural
program in Bethesda, Maryland, and funds many individual researchers
across the United States who are studying lupus. To help scientists gain
new knowledge, the NIAMS also has established Specialized Centers of
Research devoted specifically to lupus research. In addition, the NIAMS
is funding several lupus registries that will gather medical information
as well as blood and tissue samples from patients and their relatives.
This will give researchers across the country access to information and
materials they can use to help identify genes that determine
susceptibility to the disease.
Identifying genes that play a role in the development of
lupus is an active area of research. For example, researchers suspect a
genetic defect in a cellular process called apoptosis, or "programmed
cell death," in people with lupus. Apoptosis is similar to the process
that causes leaves to turn color in autumn and fall from trees; it
allows the body to eliminate cells that have fulfilled their function
and typically need to be replaced. If there is a problem in the
apoptosis process, harmful cells may stay around and do damage to the
body’s own tissues. For example, in a mutant mouse strain that develops
a lupus-like illness, one of the genes that controls apoptosis is
defective. When it is replaced by a normal gene, the mice no longer
develop signs of the disease. Scientists are studying what role genes
involved in apoptosis may play in human disease development.
Studying genes for complement, a series of proteins in the
blood that play an important part in the immune system, is another
active area of lupus research. Complement acts as a backup for
antibodies, helping them destroy foreign substances that invade the
body. If there is a decrease in complement, the body is less able to
fight or destroy foreign substances. If these substances are not removed
from the body, the immune system may become overactive and begin to make
autoantibodies.
Recent large studies of families with lupus have
identified a number of genetic regions that appear to confer risk of
SLE. Although the specific genes and their function remain unknown,
intensive work in delineating the entire human genome offers promise
that these genes will be identified in the near future. This should
provide knowledge of the fundamental nature of the risk factors that can
lead to lupus and new insights into how these risks can be modified.
It is thought that autoimmune diseases, such as lupus,
occur when a genetically susceptible individual encounters an unknown
environmental agent or trigger. In this circumstance, an abnormal immune
response can be initiated that leads to the signs and symptoms of lupus.
Research has focused on both the genetic susceptibility and the
environmental trigger. Although the environmental trigger remains
unknown, microbial agents such as Epstein-Barr virus and others have
been considered. Researchers also are studying other factors that may
affect a person’s susceptibility to lupus. For example, because lupus is
more common in women than in men, some researchers are investigating the
role of hormones and other male-female differences in the development
and course of the disease.
A current study funded by the NIH is focusing on the
safety and effectiveness of oral contraceptives (birth-control pills)
and hormone replacement therapy in women with lupus. Doctors have
worried about the wisdom of prescribing oral contraceptives or estrogen
replacement therapy for women with lupus because of a widely held view
that estrogens can make the disease worse. However, recent limited data
suggest these drugs may be safe for some women with lupus. Researchers
hope this study will yield options for safe, effective methods of birth
control for young women with lupus and enable postmenopausal women with
lupus to benefit from estrogen replacement therapy.
|
Promising Areas of Research
- Identifying lupus susceptibility genes
- Searching for environmental agents that cause
lupus
- Developing drugs or biologic agents that cure
lupus
|
Researchers are also focusing on finding better treatments
for lupus. A primary goal of this research is to develop treatments that
can effectively minimize the use of corticosteroids. Scientists are
trying to identify combination therapies that may be more effective than
single-treatment approaches. Researchers are also interested in using
male hormones, called androgens, as a possible treatment for the
disease. Another goal is to improve the treatment and management of
lupus in the kidneys and central nervous system. For example, a 20-year
study supported by the NIAMS and the NIH found that combining
cyclophosphamide with prednisone helped delay or prevent kidney failure,
a serious complication of lupus.
On the basis of new information about the disease process,
scientists are using novel "biologic agents" to selectively block parts
of the immune system. Development and testing of these new drugs, which
are based on compounds that occur naturally in the body, comprise an
exciting and promising new area of lupus research. The hope is that
these treatments not only will be effective, but also will have fewer
side effects. Other treatment options currently being explored include
reconstructing the immune system by bone marrow transplantation. In the
future, gene therapy also may play an important role in lupus
treatment.
(Source: excerpt from Handout on Health Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: NIAMS)
Questions and Answers About Arthritis and Rheumatic Diseases: NIAMS (Excerpt)
Researchers are looking at how genetic, environmental, and
hormonal factors influence the development of systemic lupus
erythematosus. They are trying to find out why lupus is more common in
certain populations. There has been very promising progress in
identifying the genes that may be responsible for lupus. Promising areas
of treatment research include biologic agents; newer, more selective
drugs that suppress the immune system; and efforts to correct immune
abnormalities with bone marrow transplantation. Clinical studies are
underway to determine the safety of estrogens for hormone replacement
therapy and birth control in women with lupus. Contrary to the widely
held belief that estrogens can make the disease worse, recent data
suggest that these drugs may be safe for some women with lupus. (Source: excerpt from Questions and Answers About Arthritis and Rheumatic Diseases: NIAMS)
Medical research for Lupus: medical news summaries:
The following medical news items
are relevant to medical research for Lupus:
Lupus Treatment: Book Excerpts
Clinical Trials for Lupus
Some of the clinical trials for Lupus include:
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