CNN logo
Navigation

Infoseek/Big Yellow


Pathfinder/Warner Bros


Barnes and Noble






Health banner
rule

Study links lupus to Epstein Barr virus

Graphic December 15, 1997
Web posted at: 11:44 p.m. EST (0444 GMT)

From Medical Correspondent Dr. Steve Salvatore

(CNN) -- Doctors hope a new discovery about lupus will help them find a cure for the debilitating disease of the immune system.

Although the cause of lupus remains unknown, a new study suggests that there may be a link between it and the Epstein Barr virus, which causes mononucleosis.

Researchers found 99 percent of the young lupus patients they studied tested positive for the Epstein Barr virus, compared to 70 percent of those without lupus.

icon VXtreme Video
CNN's Dr. Steve Salvatore reports

"It may be that lupus patients are extremely susceptible to the virus ... and it may be that you need to have the virus infection before you could catch lupus," said Dr. John Harley of the University of Oklahoma.

For Kathleen Lewis, who has been living with lupus for 20 years, the disease poses a new challenge every day.

"Living with lupus is like trying to hit a moving target while you're on a roller coaster," she said. "You don't know how you're going to feel minute to minute, day to day."

In contrast to healthy people, whose bodies produce antibodies to fight off infections and viruses, people with lupus produce antibodies that attack normal, healthy tissue. Lupus patients get sick often. In severe cases, the disease can be fatal.

An estimated 500,000 to 2 million people in the United States have lupus. It is most common in women of child-bearing age, but can occur at birth and later in life.

graphic

Lupus is three times more common in African American women, and the group at greatest risk is African Caribbean women.

Symptoms include joint aches, muscle aches, feeling tired, and a skin rash, particularly after exposure to the sun. The disease also can cause life-threatening heart problems and problems with clotting, the lungs, kidneys and nervous system.

Doctors hope the new information about lupus's link to the Epstein Barr virus will lead them to more knowledge about the disease, so that people like Kathleen Lewis can live better lives.

 
rule

Related stories:

Related sites:

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.


Infoseek search  


rule
Message Boards Sound off on our
message boards


You said it...
rule
To the top

© 1997 Cable News Network, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

Terms under which this service is provided to you.