Many patients who have lupus also suffer from diabetes, and the connections between the two conditions are complex. It’s not easy, but managing two conditions simultaneously is achievable. Diabetes Mellitus is a condition that affects how the body absorbs and manages glucose, a simple sugar that is easily absorbed.
Insulin, a hormone vital for controlling glucose levels, digesting, storing, and utilizing glucose, is usually to blame. Insulin instructs body cells to take in sugar and convert it to energy. Alternatively, if the blood glucose level is too high, glucose can be stored in the liver for eventual use.
Lupus And Diabetes
SLE affects the entire body and has numerous intricate relationships with diabetes as a chronic autoimmune illness. SLE can impair every part of a person’s life due to organ damage, drugs, nutritional concerns, weariness, and a lack of activity. People with SLE are roughly twice as likely to develop or already have diabetes than people without the disease.
Scientists have discovered that persons with SLE have a higher overall resistance to insulin. Insulin resistance occurs when the body fails to respond to normal amounts of this hormone, resulting in problems with both too much and too little sugar in the blood. Other hormones linked to diabetes, such as C-peptides, are present in lupus patients. Insulin resistance is believed to be the result of organ damage, and it can exacerbate lupus symptoms. Diabetes is another possibility.
Diabetes Effects On Lupus
SLE is not immune to the effects of diabetes. Diabetes exacerbates lupus symptoms, resulting in a vicious circle of disease interaction. Insulin resistance increases some of the hazards associated with SLE. Surprisingly, whether hospitalization is increasing or decreasing is less certain. However, nothing is known regarding the interactions between diabetes and lupus.
Lupus Treatment And Diabetes
Some medications for lupus symptoms may lessen the risk of diabetes, according to research. Antimalarial drugs like hydroxychloroquine, which reduce inflammation and protect the body from the effects of lupus, appear to help people from acquiring type 2 diabetes.
1498 individuals with lupus were followed throughout their therapies in a study. The average follow-up time was 4.62 years. The research looked at the link between antimalarial drugs and the development of diabetes. Because glucocorticoids and prednisone, a lupus medicine, in particular, raise the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, the mixture may help reduce those risks.
Metformin, however, is an anti-diabetic medication that may be helpful in the treatment of lupus. It affects the immune system’s metabolism, thus it could be beneficial for lupus patients. However, other drugs such as ibuprofen and insulin have been shown to interact badly with it.
