Essay Example on Lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease with widespread inflammatory effects

This results in increased atheroma development and by extension coronary heart disease among other cardiovascular diseases leaving those with SLE at a 50x increased risk of cardiovascular disease in general Kahlenberg et al 2011 Despite there not being a cure a number of options exist for the treatment of lupus many of which are immunosuppressant and many anti inflammatory A common example of an immunosuppressant used is cyclophosphamide CYC which works by inhibition of lymphocytes in the blood and thereby decrease the production of anti DNA autoantibodies Sharabi et al 2007 However being an immunosuppressant CYC inevitably has side effects notably those being treated with CYC are significantly more prone to infections than average Martin et al 1997 While these side effects are often considered minimal against the beneficial effect of the drug they have prompted some to research other methods of delivering the drug such as significantly lower achieving similar results Houssiau et al 2002 Alternatively steroidal drugs can be used such as the widely used prednisolone which has been shown to be effective and without major side effects in the treatment of a number of manifestations of lupus These include both lupus nephritis and non renal lupus suggesting it has wide uses for the treatment of lupus throughout the body Isenberg et al 1982