Awareness levels about Lupus, an auto-immune disease, is too little or negligible in India. Identified with a red butterfly rash on face, Lupus can damage the organs of a human body and can even lead to death if not diagnosed and treated early, according to specialists at Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) in Hyderabad.

Lupus has no permanent cure, but can be treated effectively if it is diagnosed early. The awareness levels about Lupus is too little or negligible. Majority of people mistake it as skin or ortho related problem and go for alternative medicines. They approach the specialists only at late stage when the disease reaches its advance stage when body organs are affected, say specialists at KIMS. Diagnosing Lupus disease is still a challenge for the medical fraternity, said rheumatologists on World Lupus day that was observed at KIMS on May 10th.

Symptoms of the disease include frequent headaches, severe fatigue, painful or swollen joints. Most of the times butterfly rashes on the skin are often mistaken for skin diseases. Majority of patients with joint pains neglect it and contact specialists only when the disease reaches advanced stage. Dr Sarath Chandra Mouli Veeravalli, chief rheumatologists at KIMS Hospital, said, “Many a time, patients approach a rheumatologists after two to four years when all other medicines have not worked. They first go to general physicians, dermatologists, orthopaedic and other alternate streams looking for relief. They come to us at a stage where the disease can’t be controlled. The moot problem that has come to the fore is that even people from the medical fraternity know too little about the early symptoms of the disease.  This is because the medical curriculum does not have a detailed mention of Lupus and most of the scientific evidence is gathered from studies conducted in European and American countries. In India more than one million people are afflicted with Lupus. And there is a very little awareness about this disease not only among the common public but also among the doctors.”

Lupus is mainly seen in female patients. Doctors say that there is no defined age for Lupus as it can strike anyone at any age. It is more common in 15 to 45 years. It is also found in the post-menopausal stage but the number is very less. Dr Padma, a dermatologists, said, “The rashes in Lupus are very typical. Yet most of the skin specialists, who are not aware, are not able to guide patients properly. Skin rashes are only the beginning of the larger disease and require aggressive treatment. It must not be allowed to flare up; hence the patient is on a very prolonged medication. Once the medication begins, it is important to not switch to alternative methods of treatment as it can prove detrimental.”

There are over 70,000 people suffering from Lupus in Andhra Pradesh and rheumatologists are trying to generate a database where they can share experiences and learn to tackle the disease.