Lupus is an autoimmune disorder of the connective tissues that affects 1.5 million Americans, 90 percent of whom are women. Lupus is the Latin word for “wolf,” and erythema means “redness.” The typical red skin sores caused by the disorder are said to resemble a wolf’s bite. The severity of lupus can range from mild to life-threatening. African American, Hispanic, and Asian women are disproportionately affected.
Lupus occurs when antigen-antibody cell complexes circulating through the body are deposited in various body tissues such as the kidney and skin, causing inflammation. Symptoms may be exacerbated by infections, extreme stress, antibiotics, and certain other drugs. Although the exact cause of this disease is unknown, hormones are believed to aggravate it, particularly estrogen, which is why so many women are affected. According to an article by Anthony di Fabio of the Arthritis Trust of America, lupus seems to be related to the use of estrogen therapy, indicating that it may be to some extent hormone-dependent.
Initial signs include arthritis, a red “butterfly” rash across the bridge of the nose and on the cheeks, weakness, prolonged and extreme fatigue, and weight loss. There may also be fever over 100 degrees, light sensitivity, skin sores on the neck, hair loss, chest pain, Raynaud’s disease (a constriction of circulation in the extremities that causes fingers to turn white or blue in the cold), joint pain, muscle inflammation, anger, depression, and anemia. If the central nervous system is involved, seizures may occur.
Additional symptoms include mouth or nose ulcers and a nail fungus, which is an outgrowth of infection by Candida albicans. Often lupus sufferers have headaches. The characteristic skin sores are raised reddish patches that become scaly and crusted. When they fall off, they leave white scars. If these sores spread to other tissues in the body, tissue wasting may occur.
Lupus may begin abruptly with a fever, or slowly, with infrequent flare-ups. Those whose symptoms appear only in the skin have a better prognosis, while those whose kidneys and brains are affected have a poorer prognosis. In some patients, many different organs—lungs, heart, kidneys—are affected.
Mild cases of lupus are treated with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs such as aspirin, ibuprofen, indomethacin, and sometimes phenylbutazone. Prednisone, a form of cortisone, may be given for arthritis and muscle aches. In severe cases of lupus, steroidal drugs are prescribed for internal and external use. However, long-term use of these medications can damage the liver and weaken the bones. Steroids depress the immune system, leaving the body vulnerable to infection.
For both mild and severe forms of lupus, says Anthony di Fabio, traditional treatments only relieve symptoms; they do not get at its causes.
Alternative practitioners have successfully treated lupus with a variety of therapies, generally based on changes in diet and appropriate supplementation.
To lessen inflammation, many people use pycnogenol, cat’s claw, black walnut, omega-3 fatty acids, and flaxseed oil. Pau d’arco and aloe vera juice act as blood cleansers. A good nervous system tonic is gotu kola. Colloidal silver is antibacterial, antifungal, and antiarthritic.
According to Dr. Jonathan Wright, a physician and nutritionist from Wash-ington, writing in Nutrition and Healing, vitaminB6, up to 500 milligrams three times a day, will help relieve symptoms. People with lupus also need supplementation with hydrochloric acid. He adds, “All lupus patients have food allergies, and will improve when this condition is handled.” In addition, over half of women have low levels of DHEA and testosterone and need to take these hormones as supplements.
According to di Fabio, Dr. Ronald M. Davis of Texas reports success treating lupus patients using EDTA (ethylenediamine tetracetic acid) chelation therapy with the antioxidant DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide), and intravenous hydrogen peroxide. Dr. Davis initiates treatment of lupus and other autoimmune diseases by giving antifungal drugs such as metronidazole, since it appears that some antibodies related to autoimmune disease are produced in response to fungal microorganisms found to be present in such diseases.
Acupuncturist and massage therapist Gina Michaels of New York City explains that she individualizes her acupuncture treatments according to each patient’s unique profile. “Each decision an acupuncturist makes looks at the large picture. For example, if the person has a headache, along which meridian is that headache located? Is it the gallbladder channel? The stomach channel? Are they having other symptoms, such as fever or sweat? Is the central nervous system affected? All of this is very, very important in deciding what treatment protocol to choose.
“There are eight meridians formed during conception that go to a very deep constitutional level. Treating these is very useful for illnesses that are systemic or of a much deeper nature.”
The Arthritis Trust of America recommends that women with lupus avoid overeating; minimize intake of cow’s milk and beef; eat more green, yellow, and orange vegetables; eat nonfarmed cold-water fish several times a week; avoid alfalfa sprouts and tablets containing L-canavanine sulfate, a substance that can worsen lupus; and avoid taking L-tryptophan, which can exacerbate the autoimmune reaction.
The diet should be high in vegetables and low in grains. Wheatgrass is excellent for reducing inflammation. Foods detrimental to healing include peanuts, bread, corn, soybeans, and other foods that can produce fungi and molds. In addition, alcohol, spinach, and carrots may aggravate the condition. Acid-producing foods, such as orange juice, meat, and dairy products, can also be harmful.
Di Fabio quotes Dr. Joel Fuhrman, who says, “Having fasted over a thousand patients with various diseases, I can say without hesitation that fasting is very often the only avenue that a patient can use to establish a complete remission.
“This is especially true with autoimmune illnesses such as lupus, where it is almost impossible to shut off the hyperactive immune system with nutritional modifications alone, without total fasting.” Fasting, he explains, is not merely a method of detoxifying. “The body clearly has the mechanism to adequately handle the removal of endogenous wastes generated in the fasting state. In fact, fasting has been shown to improve or normalize abnormal liver function.” No drugs of any sort should be taken while fasting.
Regular exercise is important, because it helps to keep the joints moving. Lupus can flare up during times of extreme stress. Working at a job one dislikes can be a contributing factor, for example. It is important for people to examine their lives and to create circumstances that promote health and happiness. Aromatherapy may also be beneficial. Essential oils can help calm the emotions and eliminate flare-ups. Rubbing tree oils such as pine and cedar directly onto the joints can diminish swelling. A drop of chamomile, lavender, lilac, or neroli can be placed on the palms and breathed in for relaxation. When there is chest congestion, eucalyptus is excellent for clearing the nasal passages and lungs.
An increasing body of evidence is showing the benefits of natural modalities to overall health and well-being. Following is a sample of recent peer-reviewed scientific studies relating to lupus.
An article on the Life Extension website describes recent advances that move away from mainstream medicine’s reliance on immune suppression in treating lupus. These include the use of monoclonal antibodies, which are directed against immune system cells that cause lupus autoimmunity; stem cell therapy, in which healthy immune cells replace problematic ones; and vitamin D, which has been found to be deficient in people with lupus and to act as a modulator of immune cell activity. In 2015, a two-year prospective study of 34 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), published in Lupus, found that vitamin D exerted important actions on T-cells. Research in the International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, also in 2015, found that a vitamin D analog (EB1089) could repair the defective bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells in these patients. Other natural therapies include lifestyle changes (exercise, avoiding sun, reducing stress), as well as supplementing the diet with fish oil, vitamin E, vitamin A, curcumin, ginkgo, pine bark extract, astragalus, and DHEA.