Learn about the fight against Lupus

MAY is Lupus Awareness Month, and two local lupus support groups will be hosting an awareness event on Saturday, 13 May in the picnic area next to the Blue Lagoon Conference Centre from 11am.

Lupus Warriors SLE Support Group and the Lupus Association of South Africa (LASA), have joined forces to bring specialists to speak about the chronic autoimmune disease.

Commonly called lupus, Systemic Lupus Erythmatosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease where the immune system fights against parts of the body that it is designed to protect, killing healthy tissue.
It is a manageable disease says 55 year-old Venissa Pillay, but there is currently no cure for it. Pillay was diagnosed with lupus 21 years ago shortly after having her second child. “I used to be a business woman, and I lived a non-stop lifestyle – always on the go,” said Pillay. She went on to say that her life shut down when she was given the prognosis by her doctor.

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“At that time, very little was – and still is in fact – known about lupus. Particularly in South Africa there was limited treatment available, so my doctor gave me just three years to live,” she recalled, adding that the chronic autoimmune disease – which predominantly affects women – is a silent killer. Until recently, the most common cause of death in people with lupus was kidney failure. As death from kidney disease has declined, heart attacks and related cardiovascular diseases have emerged as leading causes claiming people’s lives with the disease.

“I currently have 12 other illnesses that all stem from lupus,” said the mother of two. She said that she used take up to 70 pills a day before she managed to find a balance that worked for her.

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“Lupus affects each person differently. That’s a big problem with it. A treatment that works for you won’t necessarily work for me,” said Pillay. She went on to say that in the last four years she has found a balance in her lifestyle and medication that suites her.

“My number one piece of advice to someone diagnosed with lupus is to have a positive attitude and take one day at a time,” recommended Pillay.

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Lupus is more common and severe among non-white populations around the world, while women are also five times more likely than men to die from the disease. There still is no conclusive cause for lupus and it is particularly difficult to diagnose because the symptoms vary from person to person and they often overlap with other diseases. The most common symptoms are extreme chronic fatigue, painful or swollen joints, unexplained high fevers, skin rashes and kidney infections.