What Is Lupus Nephritis and How Is It Managed?
More Programs and Publications Featuring Dr. Kyle Riding
In this program:
Lupus nephritis is a complex condition, but what happens exactly? Medical laboratory scientist Dr. Kyle Riding explains what occurs in the body with lupus nephritis and actionable advice for patients to keep the condition under control.
Transcript
Deandre White:
So what is the role of kidney dialysis in the management of lupus nephritis?
Dr. Kyle Riding:
So to discuss lupus nephritis, it's first important that we understand the underlying disease process that leads to it, which is systemic lupus erythematosus or SLE. And what lupus is, it's an autoimmune condition, where essentially your immune system goes haywire. And your immune system is programmed from birth to leave your own cells alone and attack foreign invaders, whether it's bacteria or viruses or fungi or whatever funky things you encounter. But in an autoimmune condition, your immune system starts attacking your own cells. And so lupus is one of those conditions. And the problem with lupus is, it's systemic. It impacts cells throughout your body, including your kidneys. So what's going to happen is that immune response, those antibodies or those T cells are going to go to your kidneys and wreak havoc. They're going to do what they're meant to do and cause inflammation.
And so it's going to cause inflammation of the cells in the kidney we call nephrons, and that's why it's called nephritis. It's an inflammation of the nephrons. And over time, those nephrons are going to die out. And the kidney function is going to be so compromised that the patient is going to need to be placed on dialysis to make sure that they're able to survive and thrive because of the damage that is occurring to the kidneys because of the lupus.
Deandre White:
Oh, could we end with actionable advice for patients? [chuckle]
Dr. Kyle Riding:
Absolutely. So one actionable item that I would really urge patients with lupus to follow through on, is to adhere to your physician prescribed treatments, all right? Lupus is a really rough condition. You're going to be on some pretty strong immunosuppressants, and I know it can really be a bummer for you, really doesn't make you feel great some days, but it is so important to keep your lupus as under control as possible. Additionally, make sure you follow up with your physician who's treating you for the lupus, and have that renal function tested using the eGFR test and a routine urinalysis on a routine basis. Because if we can catch that nephritis early, the physician can try and give you some supportive therapies that will prolong the health of your kidneys to hopefully keep the nephritis at bay and the dialysis at bay.
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