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Lupus Vs Rheumatoid Arthritis: Methods To Tell The Difference

Considering that they are both autoimmune disorders in which the body sets upon itself and causes harm, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis are often confused with each other. So, energy-sapping disorders?

Experts agree that it’s almost impossible to diagnose these disorders because the clinical symptoms and laboratory abnormalities tend to overlap.

Lupus and rheumatoid arthritis afflict women much more frequently than men. They are also both multisystem diseases, meaning, they can damage many organs. Like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis zeroes in and causes damage to the blood vessels. Both diseases disrupt the normal function of the immune system, resulting in damaged tissues.

Lupus or systemic lupus erythematosus, is a complex disease whose cause is still unknown. It can affect many parts of the body including joints, skin, and internal organs. Most often, the person develops a rash in the shape of a butterfly on the cheeks and across the bridge of the nose. Other symptoms include fatigue, hair loss, inflammation of the kidney, mouth sores, sensitivity to light, fever, and weight loss.

Like lupus, the cause of rheumatoid arthritis is unknown. It usually affects the wrists, fingers, knees, feet, and ankles. The disease usually begins to manifest itself with fatigue and weakness, morning stiffness that lasts for more than an hour, widespread muscle aches, and loss of appetite.

In lupus, it is common for the patient to experience joint pain, but this pain is not associated with actual damage to the join itself. In some cases, there is also swelling, but majority of lupus sufferers experience pain in the joints without swelling. In rheumatoid arthritis, however, there is always swelling of the lining of the joints. This swollen lining is called the synovium. Lupus sufferers experience more pronounced pain than do rheumatoid arthritis patients.

One person can suffer from both lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. When someone with lupus develops symptoms of rheumatoid-like arthritis, including deformities of the joint, treatment for rheumatoid arthritis should be applied instead. The patient is prescribed the standard RA treatment forms such as methotrexate, sulfasalazine, and, in some cases, medications to control joint inflammation.

Find out more about Lupus and Rheumatoid Arthritis plus more Rheumatoid Arthritis Symptoms at anaudlife.com