{"id":666,"date":"2013-05-02T18:58:39","date_gmt":"2013-05-02T18:58:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=666"},"modified":"2013-05-01T19:21:18","modified_gmt":"2013-05-01T19:21:18","slug":"lupus-why-is-it-called-lupus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/05\/lupus-why-is-it-called-lupus.html","title":{"rendered":"Lupus: Why Is It Called “Lupus?”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Image<\/a>
Image courtesy of porbital\/FreeDigitalPhotos.net<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the most confounding things for many people when they first hear the term lupus is, “Why is it called ‘lupus?'” The name doesn’t resonate with people today; it doesn’t seem to describe any kind of body part or disease process. Or, does it?<\/p>\n

The word “lupus” is Latin for “wolf.” Back in the day, in the 19th century, an astute doctor noticed a very distinctive rash across a woman’s cheeks and nose. The woman had a very serious case of kidney disease, too. The doc put the two together, identified a disease process (inflammation) that was manifested in both the rash and the kidney disease, and called it “lupus,” because the rash looked much like the markings common on many wolves’ faces. Moving up into our century, the name “lupus” is still used as a catchword to encompass three major types of the disease:<\/p>\n

cutaneous lupus – affecting the skin<\/p>\n

systemic lupus erythematosus – affecting one or more \u00a0internal organs and, sometimes, skin as well<\/p>\n

drug-induced lupus – Some medications can cause lupus, however when these medications are discontinued, the lupus usually goes away<\/p>\n

There is also pediatric lupus (lupus found in children), and other sub-categories of the above.<\/p>\n

During the past several years, as various lupus organizations have tried to raise awareness for the disease, efforts have been made to come up with a descriptive color or even a symbol for lupus. Sometimes, the color orange, associated with the sun, to which many lupus patients are very sensitive, and the color purple have both been used to connote lupus-related activities. The wolf is also used sometimes, as is the shape of a “loop.”<\/p>\n

Personally, I find relating to the wolf a bit problemmatic; although it is a majestic animal, as a lupus patient, even one with a malar (red) facial rash, I don’t have anything in common with it (except, perhaps, for occasionally howling at new or stirred-up symptoms)! The “loop” idea also doesn’t really resonate with me, except, perhaps, for the days when lupus brain fog is really pronounced and I, too, feel “loopy.” The color orange is interesting, but personally, I prefer to wear yellow as it doesn’t clash with my reddish wigs. Purple? Doesn’t really relate, unless, as a lupus patient, you’re royally angry about an aspect of said disease.<\/p>\n

So, we’ll continue to try to come up with descriptive images and words for this thing called lupus. As you hear more about the disease throughout this Lupus Awareness Month, you might come up with something, too. Let me know if you do!<\/p>\n

Blessings for the day,<\/p>\n

Maureen<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the most confounding things for many people when they first hear the term lupus is, “Why is it called ‘lupus?’” The name doesn’t resonate with people today; it doesn’t seem to describe any kind of body part or disease process. Or, does it? The word “lupus” is Latin for “wolf.” Back in the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4,379],"tags":[548,547,549,552,18,497,544,553,554,498,550,551],"class_list":["post-666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chronic-pain-and-illness","category-words-of-encouragemnent-and-info-for-all","category-lupus-2","tag-cutaneous-lupus","tag-disease","tag-drug-induced-lupus","tag-loop","tag-lupus","tag-lupus-awareness","tag-lupus-awareness-month","tag-orange","tag-purple","tag-systemic-lupus-erythematosus","tag-wolf","tag-wolves"],"yoast_head":"\nLupus: Why Is It Called "Lupus?" - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/05\/lupus-why-is-it-called-lupus.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lupus: Why Is It Called "Lupus?" - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"One of the most confounding things for many people when they first hear the term lupus is, “Why is it called ‘lupus?'” The name doesn’t resonate with people today; it doesn’t seem to describe any kind of body part or disease process. 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She expected to be writing scripts. God had other plans. A few years after her graduation, Maureen was diagnosed with a life-threatening case of organ-involved lupus. Her life turned upside down as she grappled with the effects of the illness and other health conditions that ensued. She was no stranger to serious health challenges; even as a child, Maureen had survived numerous bouts of pneumonia, flu, and other infections. But lupus made her take a fresh look at her life goals - and took herlifelong, strong Catholic Christian faith and writing in a direction she'd never imagined. Today, Maureen writes and speaks about walking with the Lord while living with chronic pain and illness. Her most recent book is \"Don't Panic!: How to Keep Going When the Going Gets Tough (Franciscan Media). She is also the author of, \"Peace in the Storm: Meditations on Chronic Pain & Illness\" (Image Books\/Randomhouse), \"Beyond Pain: Job, Jesus, and Joy\" (Twenty-Third Publications), \"The First Year: Hypothyroidism, Second Edition\" (Perseus) and \"Taking Charge of Lupus: How to Manage the Disease and Make the Most of Your LIfe.\" She writes the syndicated column, \"Living Well,\" for Catholic News Service, and has also written for Saint Anthony Messenger Magazine, Journey for Women Magazine, The Upper Room Magazine, LupusNow, and Arthritis Today. Maureen's health continues to be a challenge, however she feels honored to be able to bring her perspective, from experience and knowledge, to others. \"Good Days...Bad Days with Maureen Pratt\" is a new way for Maureen to reach people who carry the burden of illness and pain in their lives, or who care for someone who does. Through the blog, she hopes to bring issues of health, wellness, and spirit into focus and, especially, inspire others that, no matter what health challenges, illness, or hardships they endure, each person can find a good way to realize the wonderful potential God has placed within each heart and soul.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.maureenpratt.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/author\/mpratt"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/548"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=666"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":669,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666\/revisions\/669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}