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Stories for Reprint
Routine Health Overlooked in Lupus Patients
By Ferdous Al-Faruque, MARRTC Staff
Despite the higher risk for infections and other illnesses, people with lupus are not being vaccinated for pneumonia or influenza or screened for cervical and breast cancer as often as they should, according to a recent study.
Jinoos Yazdany and other researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, and the National Jewish Hospital in Colorado conducted hour-long interviews with almost a thousand people with lupus to find out what kind of preventive health services they received. They found that people with lupus were often not receiving preventive health services such as pap smears, mammograms, flu vaccines and bone density scans. "Basically what we found was that people with lupus were receiving 60 percent of the (vaccination and screening services) they were eligible for," says Yazdany.
Yazdany, a rheumatologist at the University of California, San Francisco, says while working at the university clinic she realized lupus patients were often not given screenings and vaccinations that could potentially save their lives. "A lot of times preventive health care services were slipping through the cracks because we were so busy dealing with the disease itself," says Yazdany.
These preventative services are especially important for people with lupus because they have weakened immune systems and may also take immunosuppressant drugs that further weaken their body's ability to fight infections. This may make them more susceptible to illnesses such as flu and pneumonia. The Lupus Foundation of America recommends that people with lupus get annual injected flu shots that contain dead flu viruses instead of the inhaled flu-mist vaccine, which contain living viruses. According to the foundation, people with lupus who take flu-mist are at greater risk of flare-ups from their disease and may actually catch the flu. No matter what kinds of treatment people with lupus are getting, they should always consult their healthcare professional before being vaccinated.
According to Yazdany, it is important to monitor bone density and prevent fractures in people with lupus because the steroids they may take to reduce inflammation can weaken their bones.
Though researchers discovered that primary care physicians were more likely to give screenings and vaccinations compared to rheumatologists, the study found that primary care physicians and rheumatologists need to make improvements in preventive care. Primary care physicians should be aware of the increased risk for other health problems in people with lupus, and provide appropriate preventive care. Rheumatologists should verify that their lupus patients are receiving preventative screenings and immunizations.
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