PACEMAKER! JUST WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED.(BY S. DOUGLAS)

Ever wondered what would happen to you if your heart started malfunctioning? But more specifically your pace maker? I’m sure we all would feel vulnerable, like wise which is normal. Contractions of the heart's chambers and its ability to pump blood to the lungs and throughout the body are dependent on the precious functioning of the heart's electrical system. Unfortunately, much like the electrical system in a car, which can occasionally malfunction, the heart's electrical system also can malfunction, and may result in a need for a pace maker implantation accordingly.

What we should know is that “a pacemaker is a system that sends electrical impulses to the heart to set the heart rhythm”. The pacemaker can be the original pacemaker of the heart or an electronic device.

However, about three years ago, I remembered my neighbour from the UK complaining that she had a rapid heartbeat, often felt tired and dizzy etc…. remembering her condition, a few days ago, we started talking about her heart and surprisingly she told me that she had an artificial pacemaker implantation. Further in our conversation she stated that her 1^st symptoms were light-headedness, dizziness, with a feeling that she would faint, as I recalled. Progressively the length of time of the episodes  got longer for about 5 minutes, like rapid heart rate etc… Nevertheless, she didn’t pay any consideration to what was happening to her and continued her normal daily activities in the UK like skiing and snowboarding on top of a mountain, where she got the worse episode, which lasted for about an hour, her chest felt tight, she found it hard to breathe, weak and she couldn’t even speak.

Knowing the talk “your health is your responsibility” she visited a heart specialist, had an ECG done, her carotid artery was checked and an ultrasound, where the doctor diagnosed arrhythmia: a condition in which the heart beats with an irregular rhythm. “An arrhythmia can occur if the electrical signal that control the heart beat are delayed or blocked”. Though the doctor didn’t know why she was having arrhythmia, the best way to diagnose was to have an ECG done while she was actually having the episode. Two weeks later she had a long episode of feeling lightheaded, fast heart beat etc, and this time the information was captured on ECG where analysis showed she had supraventricular tachycardia (SVT): that is an abnormal rapid heart rate. Her heart beat was erratic and jumping up to 220pbm. To resolve this issue, she had an ablation procedure. This is a procedure to scar or destroy tissue in your heart that’s allowing incorrect electrical signals to cause rapid heartbeat.

After the ablation, everything was normal for 9 months, until one day she noticed she had slow heartbeat, it was erratic, her heart beat went down to 38bmp, making it very difficult for breathing. As anyone would, she went back to the doctor, had an ECG done, which showed she had 3^rd degree heart block, a form of bradycardia, heart beat less than 60bpm. According to NHS choices, “in a third-degree heart block, there’s no transmission of electrical pulses between the atria and the ventricles through the AV node”. In her case her own natural pacemaker works well but the signal is blocked at the AV node.

Because of her condition, the major solution, was to have an electronic pacemaker implantation, a small device about the size of a matchbox weighing 20-50g. They made a pocket in her chest region to her left side inserted the pacemaker with the electric wires passing through her ribs to various parts of her heart/affected area. How it now works is that, “the pulse generator emits electrical impulses through the wires to your heart. If the pacemaker senses that your heart has missed a beat or is beating too slowly, it sends a signal at a steady rate, when the heart is beating normally, it doesn’t send out any signals.” Most pacemakers have a special sensor that recognises body movement or your breathing rate. This allows them to speed up the discharge rate when you’re active”.

Pacemaker implantation is one of the most common heart surgery carried out in the UK, so this issue is quite common, there is no need to freak out or feel vulnerable, you’ll be okay, but continue to eat healthy, exercise and take any precautionary measures as the doctor may order you.

Pacemaker! Just what the doctor ordered! Kate has her life normal again!

Diabetes at this age..Why? (By T.Charles)

At the age of 6, my little brother began experiencing symptoms such as weight loss, polyuria, polydipsia and polyphagia. It was very strange because this started happening suddenly. The symptoms prolonged for a few days so my mom decided to take him to a pediatrician. The pediatrician

checked him out and gave him some medications to try to stop the symptoms. However, the medications were not working.

She made him go to the hospital to take a few tests. The next day, he was immediately rushed to the hospital. When we arrived at the hospital the nurse tested his blood sugar and it was very high. It was so strange to us because we were wondering why does a six-year-old have high blood sugar.

The doctor gave him insulin which is a hormone produced in the pancreas by the islets of Langerhans, which regulates the amount of glucose in the blood. It was understood that his pancreas was not producing this hormone resulting in high blood sugar which caused these symptoms.

The news was given to the family and the first thing that one said was you were giving him plenty sweets man he got diabetes. Many people think that diabetes is just caused by having an unhealthy diet which is type 2 diabetes. This is false because there is also Type 1 diabetes which is usually diagnosed in children and young adults.

In type 1 diabetes (insulin-dependent), the body does not produce insulin. The body breaks down the sugars and starches you eat into a simple sugar called glucose, which it uses for energy. Insulin is a hormone that the body needs to get glucose from the bloodstream into the cells of the body. With the help of insulin therapy and other treatments, young children can learn to manage their condition and live long, healthy lives. In most people with type 1 diabetes, the body's own immune system which normally fights harmful bacteria and viruses, mistakenly destroys the insulin-producing (islet) cells in the pancreas.

People with type 2 diabetes (insulin-independent) make insulin, but their cells don't use it as well as they should. At first, the pancreas makes more insulin to try to get glucose into the cells. But eventually it can't keep up, and the sugar builds up in your blood instead. It is mostly caused by being overweight.

Symptoms of type 1 and type 2 diabetes include:

• Being very thirsty (Dehydration)
• Peeing a lot
• Blurry vision
• Being irritable
• Tingling or numbness in your hands or feet
• Weight loss

Diabetes Mellitus is a disease which cannot be cured. However, once you eat the right foods and take your medication, it should not be a problem for you at all. Don’t forget, there are two types of diabetes mellitus (type 1 and type 2) so if one of your young friends or siblings is diagnosed with this disease, don't just think about an unhealthy diet (type 2) but also think of type 1 diabetes which is autoimmune or genetic.

Sickle cell anemia. By Omin Fountain

"A food cooking later wi"." What u saying you making a turn?" You didn't have to ask,he didn't have a reason not to hang out.He was almost always the first to arrive.Although he was limited by having to use clutches at all times that did not seem to keep him back.He always had the most interesting story, a normal day of school with his friend pushing him on a wheel barrow and him falling off. He said that was the reason for his "extra legs".He was an out going individual attending all activities in the village,however he did had to pause and take a break ever so often,due to fatigue being one of the symptoms of his aliment. His feet would seem swollen after a long day of walking and would have sores which seemed like they took extra time to heal.He would appear to be in distress and seem slower than usual.
After days of not seeing him,when asked the usual response was" ambulance bring mistake down again wi".It was a painful crises that he tired to hide,which was as a result of inadequate blood supply to the body tissues.

The impaired circulation is caused by the blookage of various blood vessels from the sickling of red blood cells. The sickled red blood cells slow or completely stop the  normal flow of blood through the tissues. This lead to excruciating pain,often requiring hospitalization and medication for relief.The pain can change its location form one body area to another. Bones are frequently exposured. Pain in the abdomen with tenderness is common. Fever is frequently associated with the pain crisis. A pain cris can be prompted by dehydration, infection,injury and cold exposure.

The term sickled cell disease describes a group of inherited red blood cell disorders. People with this disease have
abnormal hemoglobin called hemoglobin S or sickle hemoglobin in their red blood cells. Hemoglobin is a protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen throughout the body.

Sickle cell anaemia is a life long illness and someone suffering from this has to be evaluated every 3-12 months based on their age. The spleen does not work as effectively and this in turn causes the individual to be at a  higher risk of confhinvolves the use s,whic which nfecion.Penicillin however have been found to decrease the chance of this occurring.

Instead of the blood moving through the blood steam easily, sickle cells can clog blood vessels. When blood can't get where it is needed,the body's tissues and organs don't have the oxygen they need to stay healthy.
Normal blood cells last about 4 months in the bloodstream but fragile sickle cells breakdown after only about 10-20 days.
People with sickle cells have other problems because their blood isn't moving through the body as well as it should just like the case of the young nan.And these includes:
Higher chance of getting infection, higher chance of getting stroke and a condition called Acute Chest Syndrome, which is caused by inflammation, infection or blood vessels in the lungs that are blocked by sickled cells.


This young man would still be alive if drugs such as hydroxyurea was available to him to ease the pain and complications. Also if a bone marrow transplant was available cause its the only potential cure for sicked cell anemia.

It is possible  to avoid passing down the disease genetically by getting advice from a genetic cconselor if you plan to have a child and carry the sickle cell trait.

Weak, Diseased, Hereditary or lifestyle HEART DISEASE? (YOU CAN’T RUN OR HIDE FROM IT) (By Sarahn Lawrence)

Yesterday, I went to visit a 63 years old family friend who is a retired nurse. She has been extremely ill lately and has been so ill for the past months, she started fearing death. She had symptoms such as excessive urination at night, fatigue, reduced exercise ability, palpitations,shortness of breath with activity, swelling of the abdomen, legs, ankles, or other part of the body and trouble breathing while lying down. She has been to so many doctors in the past and was diagnosed with exercise-induced bronchospasm, which is a narrowing of the airways in the lungs that is triggered by strenuous exercise. It causes shortness of breath, wheezing, coughing and other symptoms during or after exercise. She also has bilateral carpal tunnel which is a medical condition due to compression of the median nerve as it travels through the wrist at the carpal tunnel and some mild peripheral neuropathy which is a result of damage to your peripheral nerves, often causes weakness, numbness and pain, usually in your hands and feet. As time went by her symptoms started getting worse she started having constant edema, swelling of the ankles and shortness of breath.

Doctors at the hospital automatically assumed that her symptoms were related to hypertension, diet or even diabetes. She was then advised to travel overseas for further medical attention to see a cardiologist, which she did. They did an echocardiogram and realized some changes in the electrical conduction in the heart, and wanted to know what are these changes and why it was happening. The doctors then realized there where little star like structures in the walls of her ventricles just dispersed little areas of thickening that looked like stars after reviewing her echoes. They then insisted she do a myocardial biopsy to look for Amyloid, which came back positive. Amyloid is a disease called protein misfolding. There are normally soluble proteins that become insoluble for a number of reasons and deposits abnormally in tissues and organs around the body. She was then diagnosed with Familial Amyloidotic Cardiomyopathy (FAC). She inherited the genetic mutation from both her mother and father.

Normally before finding out patients has FAC, they are diagnosed with seemingly unrelated symptoms because it affects multiple organs with unspecific symptoms. FAC is an inherited progressively debilitating and often fatal disease caused by mutation in the TTR Gene. This gene is called transthyretin, which is the type that affects family members. The proteins that transport thyroxin and retinol the hereditary form of TTR there is a mutation, which makes the protein abnormal. The TTR protein has a different structure, which makes it unstable, and it tends to form this Amyloid fibril that then gets deposited into the body. The hereditary form of TTR amyloid usually affects the nerves causing neuropathy or the heart or sometimes both. There are 2 other proteins which normally affects the heart and they are called AL (Amyloid light chain) Immunoglobulin which is a protein which fights infections and due to abnormal cells in bone marrow it forms too much light chains and they form amyloid to deposit in tissues and organs in the body and secondly, the Wild type (Age related or senile) where the protein is normal with no mutations. It’s mysterious that the proteins become misfolded and form the amyloid substance and deposit it in heart or ligaments or carpal tunnel.

In FAC the walls of the ventricular parts of the heart becomes thicker due to substances called Amyloidosis. The muscle cells of the heart are disrupted and Amyloid fibrils goes in between heart cells and causes disfunction. The heart should be flexible but it causes the heart to be much stiffer than normal. Its not that the heart is weak its just that the walls of the heart is too thick and inflexible making it hard for the heart to get filled with blood, and when you can’t get enough blood into the heart there isn’t enough to send to the body. This causes conditions such as heart failure when there isn’t enough blood to meet the demands of the body and pressure can then build up in the heart causing a syndrome called congestive heart failure.

However the issue was resolved just in time since she was placed on the heart transplant list. She received a new heart in January of this year and the transplant was done successfully.

            

An excuse to play copaweson (by Kezia Carbon)

I believe that there is no one better to do this topic, it's right up my alley. But anyways! I am sure that everyone has seen at least one Judge Judy commercial break where some medical product is being advertised, with the nice music and the white lady's voice. And then at the very end when stating the side effects, she starts to speak very quickly. "Side effects may include stroke, allergic reactions.........or even may result in death".

A drug for inflammatory heart disease was advertised on one of the commercial breaks. Although we did not directly address this illness in class, we did cover some aspects of it.

Inflammatory Heart Disease as its name implies is the swelling of the heart muscles, pericardial sac and myocardium. Perhaps you will remember the cardiac tamponade we discussed in class; where the pericardial sac fills with fluid, pressure is exerted on the heart and ventricles are unable to effectively pump blood out of the heart.

Inflammatory heart disease is caused by pathogens, viruses, bacteria and toxic materials from the environment.......which includes people. When heart muscle especially the myocardium is infected by viruses, it results in chest pain, shortness of breath, edema, fatigue, and pain in heart muscle, oh and back to the commercial.......death! 

Antibiotics can be used to treat the disease and if heart failure occurs, long term medications will have to be taken. But as the saying goes, prevention is always better than cure. So if you are in an uncomfortable situation, especially during carnival and independence season, you know, when all these foreigners are here, use inflammatory heart disease as your scapegoat.

References

The Inflammatory Heart Diseases. Lu.L.,Sun.R. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25682012  

Inflammation and Heart Disease. American Heart Association.<http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/Inflammation-and-Heart-Disease_UCM_432150_Article.jsp#.WK8e7NIrKM8> 

I can't breathe. Am I going to die? (By Dora Prevost)

When I was younger I rarely got sick. I vaguely remember that one time I got the flu and had to be placed under the nebulizer because I had extreme wheezing and breathing difficulties. However that was short lived. I had a really high metabolism back then and would eat to my heart’s content and gained nothing. A knack many people admired but I detest. I literally weighed just above 85 pounds in 2nd form and did not gain much until my final year of secondary school but overall I was a healthy, agile young individual. 

Changes in my body became apparent in college. I gained a significant amount of weight which was a plus but on the downside I always felt fatigue and had really intense headaches.  If that was not bad enough my skin became extremely pale, especially in the facial region and I had difficulty focusing in class and felt extremely lightheaded when I moved around.  I brushed off the symptoms and assumed that they were due to an increase work load, lack of sleep since I was a double major at the time and the fact that I had gained weight.  Silly me!!

Fast forward a few months, while studying for final exams I felt an intense pain in my chest, an ache which had became a norm for me, along with breathing difficulties.  However this time, it was INTENSE!!! Breathing was no longer involuntary.  I felt like I was going to die…  A doctor visit and a few tests later confirmed that I had a condition called Iron Deficiency Anemia. 

So much for being healthy…

Iron deficiency is a nutritional deficiency that leads to anemia. Iron deficiency anemia is a condition in which blood lacks adequate healthy red blood cells.  This could be due to internal bleeding, pregnancy, loss of blood due to menstruation, inability to absorb iron or in my case inadequate iron intake.  As the name implies, iron deficiency anemia is due to insufficient iron in the body.  Iron is important because the body uses it to produce a substance called hemoglobin which is found in the red blood cells. It carries oxygen through the body.  Inadequate iron means, hemoglobin is not being produced as it should, hence oxygen is not carried throughout the body at its precise rate.

That explains my breathing difficulties.

                   

              Depiction of Normal red blood cells (left) and Iron Deficient red blood cells (right)

American Society of Hematology states that;

 Red blood cell (RBC) count and hemoglobin concentration are important clinical data because they determine the amount of oxygen the blood can carry. Hemoglobin concentration of whole blood is normally 13 to 18 grams per deciliter (g/dL) in men and 12 to 16 g/dL in women. Red blood cell count in men is approximately 4.7 to 6.1 million cells/ul (microlitre). The normal range in women is 4.2 to 5.4 million cells/ul

My hemoglobin levels were 7 grams per deciliter (g/dL) which was pretty low. 

The signs and symptoms of iron-deficiency anemia depend on its severity. Mild to moderate iron-deficiency anemia may have no signs or symptoms.  However if they do arise, it would include the following:

Iron deficiency cannot be corrected overnight. The goals of treating iron-deficiency anemia are to treat its underlying cause and restore normal levels of red blood cells, hemoglobin, and iron. Luckily, iron supplements and a change in diet can correct low iron levels within months.  

When will I ever grow up? (By Chari Peter)

"Why am I not like the other girls? " Rebecca is on her final year of university getting her Masters degree in Biology and Chemistry. Shes turning 25 this year but, she has the body of a 7 year old, literally. she wonder why she has no breasts, no hips and why she hasn't experienced period as yet.
Seeing that she is a Biology student, she is aware of the natural processes  in males as well as females but cant understand why she is this way. she beings questioning whether or not she will be able to make any kids since she has no signs of secondary sex characteristics.


Syndrome is a condition  characterised by delayed or absent puberty and impaired sense of smell. It is a sort of Hypogonadotropic hypogonadism. you're maybe wondering why  it is so long. to break it down for you , Hypogonadism according to medicine plus, is a condition in which the male testes or the female ovaries produce little or no sex hormones.
Hypogonadrotropic Hypoganadism (HH) is a form of hypogonadism that is due to a problem with the pituitary gland or hypothalamus.


The hormones which causes this syndrome are FSH ( follicle stimulating hormone), and LH ( luteinizing hormone). Both males and females can get the Kallmann syndrome.
The males and females will not grow/ develop the secondary sex characteristics.

• The males will often have a small penis and undescended testes
• they will not grow any facial hairs 
• their voice is not deeper
• they will have a lost in interest in sex
• The females will not 
• undergo menstruation
• have breast and hip development 

A man with Kallmann Syndrome

Both males and females will have problems in conceiving a child. This is because they are both infertile due to the non existence of secondary sex characteristics.  Can you imagine how traumatizing this experience is? all your dreams of " glowing up" will be crushed if you have this syndrome.

A few other signs and symptoms of Kallmann  syndrome are:

• loss of smell
• Kidney failure to develop the unilateral renal
• unformed bones in the fingers and the toes.

Some other individuals who has Kallmann syndrome  have bimanual synkinesis.. In this the image movement of one hand is mirrored by the other hand.
On May 24th 2017, a concerned mother spoke out this bimanual synkinesis on www.health.org
" My 17 month baby has a mirrored hand. IF  he scratched  his ear with his left hand, his Right hand is identical to the left but it is scratching the air. "



On famous person that we should all know is Jason Daniel Earles. He played the role Jackson Stewart in the Disney Channel sitcom Hannah Montana. Im sure we all wondered at one point why he looks the same as each season went by. e was actually 29 when he played that role of a 18 yr old boy. according to ... He suffers from kallmann syndrome.

Jason Daniel

Testing and treatments

• Blood tests are done to measure the hormones FSH, LH others such as TSH, Prolactin and testosterone. 
• Other test is MRI of the pituitary gland.
• To treat these, a medical doctor prescribes 
• Injection and patches of testosterone
• Estrogen and progesterone pills as well as the patches

Addison's Disease (By Leandra Daniel)

What is Addison’s disease?

Addison’s disease is an autoimmune disorder that occurs when your body produces insufficient amounts of a certain hormone produced by your Adrenal gland.

In this disease, your Adrenal gland produces too little Cortisol and often insufficient levels of Aldosteron as well.

Addison’s disease occurs in all age groups and affects both sexes but occurs most frequently in middle-aged females. It can also be life- threatening to some point if not treated.

CAUSES OF ADDISON’S DISEASE

Addison’s disease results when your adrenal glands are damaged, and produces insufficient amounts of the hormones mentioned earlier.

Just in case you didn’t know, but the Adrenal glands are located on top of each of the kidneys as shown in the picture below.

 As a part of your endocrine system, they normally produce hormones that give instructions to virtually every organ and tissue in your body.

Addison’s disease, which is our main focus here, occurs when the cortex is damaged and doesn’t produce its hormone in adequate quantities. Doctors refer to this condition involving damage to the adrenal gland as Primary Adrenal Insufficiency.

Adrenal insufficiency can also occur if your pituitary gland is diseased. The pituitary gland makes a hormone called Adrenocortictroipic Hormone (ACTH), which stimulates the adrenal cortex to produce its hormones.

Inadequate production of ACTH can lead to insufficient production of hormones normally produced by your adrenal glands, even though your adrenal glands aren’t damaged. Doctors call this condition Secondary Adrenal Insufficiency.

SYMPTOMS OF ADDISON’S DISEASE

Addison’s disease usually develops slowly, often over several months and may include the following symptoms:

• ·      Extreme fatigue
• 
  
•         Weight loss and decrease appetite
• 
  
•         Darkening of your skin (hypo pigmentation)
• 
  
• ·        Low blood pressure, even fainting
• 
  
•         Salt craving
• 
  
• ·      Low blood sugar (hypoglycemia)
• 
  
•         Nausea, diarrhea or vomiting
• 
  
•         Abdominal pains
• 
  
•         Muscle or joint pains
• 
  
•         Irritability
• 
  
• ·        Depression
• 
  
• ·        Body hair loss or sexual dysfunction in                                                                 

  

See your doctor if you have sign and symptoms that commonly occur in people with this disease.

Your doctor can help determine weather Addison’s disease or some other medical condition may be causing these symptoms.

TREATMENTS FOR ADDISON’S DISEASE

Treatment for Addison’s disease involves taking hormones to replace the insufficient amount being made by your adrenal glands, in order to mimic the beneficial effects produced by your naturally made hormones.

There can also be a hormone replacement therapy to correct the levels of steroid hormones your body isn’t producing. Some options for treatments include Oral corticosteroids and corticosteroid injections.

LOOK CLOSER (BY SHAHID DEFOE)

Did you know that a simple photograph could provide potentially life-saving information about the health of a child's eyes?According to an old article circulating around social media which was featured on channel 3 news was “One day Tara Taylor posted a photograph of her 3-year-old daughter on Facebook, friends in her social network informed her that the glow in the girl's eye could indicate something wrong.” As a result, Rylee Taylor was diagnosed with a rare eye disease that can cause vision loss, but thanks to early detection was able to save her sight. Paying close attention to photos of children can actually clue us into both common and rare eye problems signaled by the reflection of the camera flash off the retina, also known as the "red reflex."
A red reflex is produced when the flash of a camera lights up the blood-rich retina. If the eyes are looking directly at the camera lens and the color of the reflex in both eyes is red, in most cases that's a good indication that the retinas of both eyes are unobstructed and healthy.An "abnormal red reflex" is a white, yellow or black reflection in one or both eyes. This can be a warning sign for the presence of an eye condition, which can be diagnosed by a pediatric ophthalmologist (specializes in the care of children's eyes)
On rare occasions, abnormal red reflexes can signal more dangerous eye conditions.

An asymmetrical red reflex, when only one eye reflex appears red, or one eye's red reflex is dimmer than the other, may be an indicator of strabismus, or misalignment of the eyes, a condition in which both eyes do not look at the same place at the same time. Treatment for strabismus may include eyeglasses, prisms, patching or blurring the strong eye, or eye muscle surgery. If detected and treated early, strabismus often can be corrected with excellent results.

A white reflex that covers most of the pupil, also known as leukocoria, can be a red flag for several serious eye disorders including cataracts, retinal detachments and infections inside the eye. It can also be a warning sign of retinoblastoma, an extremely rare and very serious childhood cancer of the eye. When caught and treated early, retinoblastoma is curable 95 percent of the time.

A yellow reflex can be a sign of Coats' disease, when blood vessels inside the eye that provide blood and oxygen to the retina become twisted and leaky, creating a blockage in the retina that can cause vision loss or retinal detachment. It occurs mostly in boys under age 10, and usually affects only one eye. Treatment can include laser surgery, cryotherapy or, in later stages of the disease, more invasive surgery.

Coats' disease can be difficult to distinguish from a retinoblastoma through photographs because the white and yellow reflexes look similar.

Children pictures taken especially at night where the glow could be seen clearly should be looked over because early discovery about a rare disease could save many lives.

x

Why is this Healing drug KILLING me?! (By M.John)

For many of us, after the first sign of a flu or common cold, we run to the drug store to get pills or fluids to save the day. It seems as if flu season is the best business time for Jolly’s Pharmacy.

The common idea behind this is that medications of all kinds were created with the purpose of ‘curing’ or helping the body to cure itself. According to Merriam Webster online dictionary Medication/medicine refers to “a drug or other preparation for the treatment or prevention of disease”.

However, recent occurrences across the western world have escalated a major cause for concern in regards to the health threats associated with these drugs, particularly antibiotics.

Is there a true issue with the drug or its use? Let’s find out.

As a child I remember having a terrible flu and even after recovering I opted to continue taking the medication prescribed. My small mind reasoned that I was doing so for ‘precaution’. It was then my brother’s slightly more mature mind relayed to me “That’s so stupid”. Now I grew up and I finally understood why this was so “stupid”.

At least thirty- eight prescribed and over the counter drugs in the United States of the America are known to cause a rather strange and rare case of an auto immune disease called Drug-induced lupus erythematosus (DILE).  Across The United states annually, approximately 15000 to 30000 persons of all ages are patients of this type of lupus.

Lupus occurs when a person’s immune system attacks the healthy tissue in their body. Drug induced lupus is one of the least common and sever cases of lupus, although mortality may result in chronic situations. Drug induced lupus may be caused by the mere use of a drug or the excessive intake of a drug, triggering an auto-immune response.

Patients who suffer with this auto immune disease are usually clueless as to how harmful over dosing on a drug maybe to them. One common mistake made by persons on antibiotics is to take the drugs for extended periods for ‘precaution’, even long after the infection is gone. This in itself is a guaranteed ticket to DILE city; of course depending on the drug used.

So here is what really happens. Certain medications including those listed below, trigger the production of auto antibodies called antinuclear antibodies (ANAs) that bind to the contents of the cell nucleus. Actually, it’s not that simple.

The medications (antibiotics usually) stimulate the creation on white blood cells. Consequently, this high production of white blood cells results in a RESPIRATORY BURST! Nope this is not a burst of respiration…if that is even a thing. 

 A respiration burst is the rapid release of reactive oxygen species, particularly from neutrophils and monocytes. The monocytes in particular detect the antigen and relays the information to the T-helper cells AND these are the cells that produce the antinuclear antibodies, to the antigens of human cells. Sadly, this often results in cell apoptosis (cell death) of many tissues including the skin and joints.

 Symptoms and signs of DILE include:

• Blurred vision
• Fever
• General ill feeling (malaise)
• Joint pain
• Joint swelling
• Loss of appetite
• Pleuritic chest pain
• Skin rash that gets worse with sunlight. (It may appear as a "butterfly" rash across bridge of nose and cheeks.)

Persons who suffered with DILE have shared their experiences with this disorder and many had related stories. One very striking story shared remained with me. “I felt like I was dying. It was then I found out that this drug was slowly killing me” – anonymous blogger. (Hence the name of my post). It amazes me how easily one thing can lead to another so innocently.

DIL is usually detected by physicians after a complete blood count is done and analyzed by lab specialists. Otherwise, symptoms usually go untreated and can result in chronic pain and often lead to misdiagnosis.

Treatment: Discontinuation of the use of the drug.

It’s that simple. If the drug use is ended symptoms usually terminate in a couple days to weeks after. Of course, more extensive situations would require further levels of treatment. After all, one would patch holes on a proper highway as opposed to the craters on farm roads; resurfacing would be a better option. Some extreme conditions result in chronic infection of the heart or lungs which most likely requires corrective surgeries.

Drugs that may induce lupus:

High risk:

·         Hydralazine (antihypertensive)

Moderate to low risk:

·         Isoniazid (antibiotic)

·         Minocycline (antibiotic)

·         Pyrazinamide (antibiotic)

·         Quinidine (antiarrhythmic)

·         D-Penicillamine (anti-inflammatory)

·         Chlorpromazine (antipsychotic)

·         Minoxidil (antihypertensive vasodilator)

Does this mean that in all cases, excessive intake of these drugs will lead to DILE? Absolutely not! Although research is not complete as yet, many scientists are convinced that certain conditions make persons predisposed to the disorder. One such factor is the rate at which the body metabolizes the drug, usually controlled by an enzyme - N-acetyltransferase.  Persons with the disorder usually have slow action of this enzyme, which facilitate overproduction of monocytes.

So the answer to your question “Am I at risk?” is not if you take the necessary precautions. Do not take medications after the suggested time frame has passed. 

I do hope that you all will share this with your peers and family who may be just as small minded as I was back then. Now you can say to them “That’s so stupid” with a reason!