Katherine Ryan, comedian, and presenter has recently spoken up about her struggles with Lupus. She pulls no punches in explaining how ill she became. GPs and Dermatologists were baffled and offered diagnoses of ringworm and leprosy. Utterly desperate, she walked through the doors of a hospital A&E department where Lupus was suspected.
What is Lupus? Full name Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), is an autoimmune disease, affecting the whole body. It is for life. There is no cure. Autoimmune diseases occur when your immune system goes rogue. It mistakenly attacks your perfectly healthy body cells, believing them to be a danger or threat to you.
Most autoimmune diseases attack one part of the body. Rheumatoid arthritis attacks joints and Type 1 diabetes attacks the pancreas. Lupus however, attacks multiple areas of the body at the same time, producing a vast range of symptoms.
Symptoms include rashes (often butterfly shaped on nose and cheeks), hair loss, joint pain, extreme fatigue, light-sensitive skin, mouth sores, headaches, inflammation of the organs (liver, kidneys, lungs, and heart) and eye problems. This is not an exhaustive list, and many more symptoms are linked to lupus.
What causes Lupus? We don’t know, but it can be life-threatening if the condition spirals out of control. What causes the immune system to behave in this way doesn’t come down to one factor. Gut health is critical for a proper functioning immune system, and this is always part of a care plan to manage Lupus.
Who is most likely to suffer with Lupus? Women. Women are ten times more likely than men to suffer. It’s thought to be connected to hormones so life stages including puberty, childbirth and perimenopause are the times most likely for Lupus to develop. If hormones are undergoing changes, the risk is increased. Autoimmune diseases appear to have genetic links. This means if someone in your family has a diagnosed autoimmune disease, you may be more likely to develop one too.
Other factors. Things we call environmental factors are also linked to Lupus and include stress (Back to Katherine… she moved from Canada to the UK, had a baby, separated from her partner and was trying to build her career), excessive sunlight, moulds, toxins (alcohol, tobacco, pesticides), metals (mercury and lead), and foods such as sugar and ultra-processed foods. All these factors create inflammation whilst suppressing your immune system.
Managing it well is the magical key. And it’s possible. We are very experienced at supporting and teaching people how to best manage their own conditions. No two people with Lupus will have the same set of symptoms; your Lupus is personal to you. Symptoms will flare up and die down. Your immune system is not ‘broken’, it’s just not behaving as it should.
If you want to talk about your Lupus condition, don’t hesitate. Email hello@rowlingnutrition.co.uk . We understand nutrition, lifestyle, and medicine. You really can’t get a better combination when it comes to managing an autoimmune disease.