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Critical Thinking

  • Final Group Presentation
  • Literature review
  •             Diagnosing Lupus is a difficult task for medical professions due to common symptoms seen in other diseases and illnesses. There is an assortment of tests and criteria that can be performed that lead to greater certainty of the disease. Most of the symptoms of Lupus disease are physical and a profession may be able to detect without screening the patient. However, the professionals tend to use ANA test in screening patients who seem to have systemic lupus. Most of the patients who depict to have symptoms of this disease tend to have a positive ANA. This means that when the screening test indicate that a patient has various symptoms of the disease and then end up showing negative results, this depicts that the patient has nice immune system that is able to fight against the disease. Technology is the main help that has come to assist many of lupus disease patients (Lupus Foundation of America, n.p). Through technology medical professional have come to depict various differential diagnosis that relate to lupus that include the following:
  • Lyme disease
  •             This infection affects human beings because of a bite from the deer tick. Some of the symptoms associated with this disease are various rushes in the body that commonly disappears after a period of 3 to 30 days. Unfortunately, blood test of the prospective patient cannot assist in diagnosing the disease. However, the test of antibodies are diagnosed through a specially test known as ELISA (National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, 2006).
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis
  • This long-term disease affects the joints the patient. The disease also affects the surrounding tissues nearing the joints and other organs of the body. The disease develops in a slow rate until becomes chronic if the patient fails to take medical actions (National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, 2006).
  • Fibromyalgia
  •             This refers to a common syndrome that attacks most of the patients and develops in the body within along period. The patient tends to feel much pain in various parts of the joints. The disease is also linked to fatigues and sleeping problems. However, some patients may have continuous pain in both day and night (National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, 2006).
  • Diabetes
  •             A patient develops high levels of sugar in the blood in this chronic disease. In most cases, the disease affects the adults. However, nowadays, the youth is also being diagnosed with the same disease. There are two types of diabetic disease although many people who have the disease do not depict whether they have both of two types. All the patients who depict to have the lupus disease also are known to have other various related problems that include the following:
  • Psychosocial Aspects
  •             Most of these aspects relate to how the patient having lupus disease associates with the community. Some of the members in the society tend to have a negative attitude towards Lupus patients especially those in a critical condition. The emotional aspects most of the time makes the patient feel isolated by the whole community. This contributes in making the patient have very serious depressions and anger. While in home, some of the family members who have the obligation of taking care of a particular patient also have a negative attitude towards lupus. Some of the attitudes are contributed by tradition believes about the causes of the disease. Health professionals play a significant role in teaching those who take care of the patients on how to play their role in assisting and assist them to have a better life.
  • Evaluating Treatment of the disease
  • Kidney and liver assessment
  •             The blood tests made on a certain patient can help in depicting and evaluating the health of the patients. Some of the tests that indicate a patient has a systematic disease include the one done to the kidneys. This is because lupus may have an effect on the both kidney and liver. Another indication that may show a kidney related problem is abnormal urinalysis. When a patient has this condition, this is an indication of a kidney disease.
  • Urinary tests
  •             This are tests that the medical professions take on patients in order to reveal any condition associated with lupus. A patient diagnosed with lupus may require urine test in order to determine the activity of the disease.
  • Antinuclear antibody test (ANA) test
  •             This test clearly indicates the existence of various antibodies in the immune system of the human body. If a person tests positive on ANA, this indicates that the individual do not have lupus (WebMD, 2011).
  • Chest X-ray
  •             Healthy professionals manage to perform this test because of technology. The patient is taken a picture of the chest in order to help depict whether there are inflammation or fluid in the lungs (WebMD, 2011).
  • Echardiogram
  •             This is another product of technology in which sound waves are used to produce images of how the heart is beating. Through this technology, medical professionals are able to check on problems relating to various valves. They may also be able to detect various problems with other parts of the heart through the help of this technology (WebMD, 2011).
  • Biopsy
  •             Lupus is a very dangerous disease; it can affect the kidneys in various ways. This leads to the different mechanism or ways of treating the disease that depends on impact of the damage to the human body. In some of the cases relating to lupus patients, medical professionals end up testing a sample of kidney tissue in order to make the correct decision about the best treatment. In most cases, the doctors obtain the kidney tissue sample with the use of a small incision or a needle.
  • Treatment option of lupus
  •             In most cases, lupus patients are treated with the help of various antibiotics. Som of them include the antimalaria. An example of antimalaria used to treat lupus patients includes chloroquine. Most of the doctors prescribe this drug for malaria patients but they also use it in treating those with lupus. In most of the patients, these drugs do not contribute in their healing although they assist in reduce the effects of lupus (WebMD, 2011).
  • Anticoagulants
  •             Anticoagulants help in the blood clotting process. They increase the ability of the platelets in clotting of the blood. When taken in low dose, they prevent the platelets from clotting. Other reliable source of medication that help in treating the lupus patient include;
  •             According to the treatment of lupus disease, all the medical professionals have an obligation of utilizing the various possible ways of technology in medication system. All medical professionals ought to play part in providing technological knowhow associated with lupus disease. This will be a big step forward in fighting this lupus. Patient has the obligation of making sure that they compile with all the advice given by doctors. The healthcare deliver also has obligation of making sure that it creates a friendly environment to all patients.
  • References
  • Lupus Foundation of America. (n.d.). Living with Lupus. Retrieved from:             http://www.lupus.org/webmodules/webarticlesnet/templates/new_learnliving.aspx?article             id=2252&zoneid=527     
    • WebMD. (2011, May). Lupus Health Care: Home treatment. Retrieved from:http://lupus.webmd.com/guide/lupus-systemic-lupus-erythematosus-home-treatment
  • http://www.lupus.org/webmodules/webarticlesnet/templates/new_learnunderstanding.aspx?articleid=2231&zoneid=523
  • http://www.medicinenet.com/systemic_lupus/page3.htm  
  • http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/lyme-disease/DS00116/DSECTION=causes
  • http://www.lymediseaseblog.com/lyme-disease-symptoms/
  • http://www.acponline.org/clinical_information/resources/lyme_disease/patient/diagnosis.htm
  • http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001467/
  • http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001463/
  • http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002194/
  • Appendix
  • Lupus Symptom
  • Lyme Disease
  • Rheumatoid Arthritis
  • Fibromyalgia
  • Diabetes
  • The Primary 11
  • malar (over the cheeks of the face) "butterfly" rash
  • discoid skin rash (patchy redness with hyperpigmentation and hypopigmentation that can cause scarring)
  • X
  • photosensitivity (skin rash in reaction to sunlight [ultraviolet light] exposure)
  • mucous membrane ulcers (spontaneous ulcers of the lining of the mouth, nose, or throat)
  • arthritis (two or more swollen, tender joints of the extremities)
  • X
  • X
  • X
  • pleuritis or pericarditis (inflammation of the lining tissue around the heart or lungs, usually associated with chest pain upon breathing or changes of body position)
  • X
  • kidney abnormalities (abnormal amounts of urine protein or clumps of cellular elements called casts detectable with a urinalysis)
  • brain irritation (manifested by seizures [convulsions] and/or psychosis)
  • blood-count abnormalities (low counts of white or red blood cells, or platelets, on routine blood testing)
  • immunologic disorder (abnormal immune tests include anti-DNA or anti-Sm [Smith] antibodies, falsely positive blood test for syphilis, anticardiolipin antibodies, lupus anticoagulant, or positive LE prep test)
  • antinuclear antibody (positive ANA antibody testing [antinuclear antibodies in the blood])
  • Other Symptoms
  • extreme fatigue (tiredness)
  • Other symptoms depend on what part of the body is affected:
  • X
  • X
  • fever
  • X
  • swelling (edema) in feet, legs, hands, and/or around eyes
  • hair loss
  • abnormal blood clotting
  • swollen lymph nodes
  • X
  • Brain and nervous system: headaches, numbness, tingling, seizures, vision problems, personality changes
  • X
  • X
  • Digestive tract: abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting
  • Heart: abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias)
  • Lung: coughing up blood and difficulty breathing
  • Skin: patchy skin color, fingers that change color when cold (Raynaud's phenomenon)
  1. Use of fish oil because it has supplements of omega-3 fatty acids
  2. Use of various products with vitamin D
  3. Flaxseed

National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. (2006, September). Lupus: A Patient Care Guide for Nurses and Other Health Professionals. Retrieved from:http://www.niams.nih.gov/Health_Info/Lupus/Lupus_Guide/chapter_1.asp

         
 
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
 
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
1475 Words  5 Pages
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