KARACHI: Speakers at a seminar said that 90 per cent of around five million patients suffering from lupus disease worldwide are young women and there is no single test to diagnose the ailment.

They shared this information at a programme organised by the department of medicine and rheumatology of the Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS).

According to the speakers, lupus is an autoimmune disease usually affecting women between age 15 and 50 years.

“It’s a centuries-old disease. Its diagnosis and treatment are both challenging. It does not go away with treatment but medication and good management help prevent the symptoms going worse,” Prof Khalid Mahmood of Aga Khan University Hospital said in his keynote address.

He added that it’s hard to diagnose the disease because its signs and symptoms often mimic those of other diseases.

He regretted lack of awareness about the disease diagnosis and treatment amongst health professionals and said doctors still questioned about the time to start treatment.

“The therapies approved by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) reduce disease intensity but these drugs are only available in developed countries. In Pakistan, one or two of these drugs are still in the registration process,” he said.

Apart from these obstacles hampering treatment in Pakistan, he pointed out, some other factors, such as social stigma attached to the disease, poverty and general negligence in medical care, also impeded quality patient care and treatment.

“Even the middle class people cannot afford the cost of its treatment. This is sad,” he said.

According to experts, the signs and symptoms depend on the body systems affected by the disease. The most common signs and symptoms include fatigue, fever, joint pain, stiffness and swelling, butter-shaped rash on the face that covers the cheeks and bridge of the nose or rashes elsewhere on the body, skin lesions that appear or worsen with sun exposure, chest pain, dry eyes and shortness of breath.

“If left untreated, it may cause other complications. It’s necessary for the patient not to hide anything from the doctors and bring the symptoms of the disease to the knowledge of the doctors so that timely treatment is possible,” Prof Iftikhar Ahmed of DUHS said.

Prof Mehfooz Alam of Liaquat National Hospital said social factors were a major problem hampering continuation of the treatment.

“Young girls who are diagnosed with this disease before marriage often have to face a lot of criticism from their in-laws, objecting over the use of multiple medicines. Then, during pregnancy, they need to be very careful about the medicines and need to strictly follow medical advice,” he said.

Published in Dawn, June 7th, 2023