Typically, patients visit their doctor because they are already showing signs and symptoms of the condition. This can include a rash, weight loss, fever, extreme fatigue, arthritis, and more. The next steps involve talking to the patient about other signs and symptoms they are experiencing. A comprehensive physical exam is completed because lupus can affect any part of the body, followed by blood tests, urine tests, biopsies, X-rays, and CT scans. Once the results come back, a rheumatologist can review them and make a diagnosis.

It depends on where you are located in the world. On average, even in a developed country, patients often have to see multiple doctors or specialists before they are formally diagnosed. Some studies quote 7-10 visits before patients see a rheumatologist who can diagnose them with lupus. There have been some reports that there is a delay of five years before individuals have a formal diagnosis and start treatment. Lupus is not based on a single blood test or symptom. It takes a lot of information to come together, akin to putting together a puzzle, and a physician experienced in seeing lupus to make a diagnosis.

Many of my patients are young women during their reproductive years who are starting families and building careers. A lot of my patients are also young women of non-white background, including Asians, Africans, Hispanics, and Indigenous patients. These non-white groups are more likely to have lupus and be affected more severely.

Many lupus symptoms can be very debilitating and/or painful. For example, we have joints all over our body and they allow us to do the things we love every day. For some lupus patients, pain, swelling, heated joints and other symptoms can prevent them from going to work and doing basic, daily living activities like dressing, brushing teeth, and bathing.

We know genetics plays a part, but just because someone in your family, like your mom or dad, has lupus, doesn’t mean you will develop it. We know that there’s more to it than genes. Environmental factors also play a role – certain chemicals or pollutants, and lifestyle. Smoking, as well as obesity and sleep deprivation, have been associated with increased risk of developing lupus. So, environment and lifestyle probably play just as important a role as genetics.

Biomarkers are molecules found in the body. They can be in the blood, muscles, or any fluid or tissue in the body. We are looking at whether or not they’re helpful in diagnosing disease. There are some specific biomarkers that are found in many lupus patients. However, some patients do not have these biomarkers, and scientists think they have unique lupus biomarkers that haven’t been identified yet.

My research passion is looking for biomarkers that can help us with an earlier and more accurate disease diagnosis. Research has shown that you can find these molecules in the blood even a decade before diagnosis. So, if we can find these biomarkers in patients before they even have lupus symptoms, we can counsel them about ways to prevent disease, or help them understand their risk of developing a disease like lupus. Making an early diagnosis is also important because we can initiate treatment in a timely manner and prevent irreversible organ damage. A lot of people currently come into our clinic in the very late stages when the disease has already spread to multiple organs. We want to catch these patients in earlier stages of the disease and stop them from progressing to the late stages.

There are complications related just to the disease itself, and then there are complications that result from untreated lupus, which often occur due to a delay in diagnosis or because of how difficult lupus is to treat. Disease complications can include rashes and scarring, as well as complications of the heart, lungs, kidneys and brain, which can be very serious. In the past, before effective treatments, a lot of patients died from the disease. When the disease is not well-controlled, there is an increased risk of infection, heart attacks, strokes and cancer. This is not because of lupus, but because of uncontrolled inflammation in the body over time.

Even though lupus can cause many different symptoms, the immune system is at the heart of the problem. However, the immune system is complex with multiple pathways of inflammation. There is still a lot of research that needs to be done to help us understand which pathways are affected in lupus to cause inflammation and dysregulation. This knowledge can be used to identify new medications to target that part of the immune system and potentially find a cure.

A new study by Arthritis Research Canada has revealed that lupus – an autoimmune disease – places significant financial strain on health care systems even before diagnosis.

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An Arthritis Research Canada study has revealed good news for patients with lupus – showing that those who take their medications as prescribed, have a reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes, compared to lupus patients who do not.

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Systemic lupus erythematosus (also known as ‘lupus’ or SLE) is a rare autoimmune disease. It occurs in approximately 1 out of 1,000 people in Canada and 10-20% of them have lupus that started in childhood.

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Arthritis Research Canada’s scientists have developed a new tool, called SLECRISK, specifically designed to predict cardiovascular disease risk in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients. This tool was created using machine learning. Machine learning teaches computers to learn information from data using statistics. Variables specific to SLE like disease activity, duration, and certain blood markers were included in the SLECRISK tool.

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Lupus is a problem where the body’s defense system makes a mistake and recognizes its own tissues as foreign and then attacks them. It can cause problems in the brain, skin, heart, lungs, kidney, joints and blood. Almost half of lupus patients are at risk for blood clots and related problems in pregnancy. These clotting issues are not well-understood and treatments are not clear-cut. Studies show that patients do not have the resources they need to understand this diagnosis, make decisions about it, or discuss it with doctors. We will survey lupus patients with clotting problems on which information sources they use to understand their disease and how they feel about their interactions with doctors. 

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People with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are at a higher risk of cardiovascular events such as heart attacks, strokes and blood clots. New Arthritis Research Canada study finds that the use of antimalarial medication often used in the treatment of these diseases, may lower this risk.

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The BC Lupus Society supports advances in research and treatments, create public awareness and provides education and support to people affected by lupus.

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The BC Lupus Society offers support groups on Mondays and Wednesdays for people living with lupus, as well as family members caregivers. 

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Lupus Canada is a non-profit organization dedicated to the mission and vision of improving the lives of Canadians living with lupus through research, advocacy, public awareness and education. 

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