Higher outdoor temperatures increase your body heat, which can bring on a lupus flare. Staying hydrated with cool, but not cold, beverages brings your body heat down again.
With lupus, cold temperatures activate painful flare-ups as blood vessels constrict to minimize heat loss. As this happens, pressure increases in different parts of the body, thereby reducing blood flow to the extremities.
Your symptoms of lupus can be overwhelming and dramatically affect your quality of life. Cold weather is one thing that can trigger and worsen your symptoms of lupus. Cooler temperatures can take a toll on most people, even if they don't have an autoimmune disease. It places additional stress on your body.
Foods High in Cholesterol and Saturated Fats
Heart attack risk is 50 times higher in people with lupus, so patients with lupus should be extra vigilant against foods with known links to heart disease, such as red meat, fried foods, and dairy.
Flares are an unfortunate part of living with lupus, but lifestyle changes can reduce your risk of flares. Eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, avoiding stress, and staying out of the sun will help.
For many people, soaring temperatures and high humidity levels can also prompt symptom flare-up, causing acute fatigue, increased joint pain, weakness, and difficulty thinking. To avoid heat-related flare-ups, stay in an air-conditioned or well-cooled environment.
Photosensitivity is common in people with lupus: 40% to 70% of people with lupus will find that their disease is made worse by exposure to UV rays from sunlight or artificial light.
Try gentle, low-impact activities
Try taking a walk around your neighborhood before work or after dinner. You can also check out this low-impact exercise routine for people with lupus — or try these great low-impact options: Biking. Swimming.
Study Shows Changes in Weather, Environment May Indeed Affect Your Lupus Symptoms. Factors like temperature, ozone concentration, and wind were associated with more flare-ups of organ-specific symptoms, according to the new research.
Hair loss is common in people living with lupus. The autoimmune disease causes body-wide inflammation that attacks the joints and skin, including the scalp. This can result in hair loss (alopecia ). Lupus-related hair loss can occur slowly, causing hair to become noticeably thinner gradually.
While the environmental elements that can trigger lupus and cause flares aren't fully known, the most commonly cited are ultraviolet light (UVA and UVB); infections (including the effects of the Epstein-Barr virus), and exposure to silica dust in agricultural or industrial settings.
People with lupus should not stay in the sun for extended periods and should make every effort to avoid UV rays outside, which are at their peak between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Don't be fooled by an overcast day, because clouds don't filter out all of the sun's UV rays. Keep track of the time you spend in the sun.
Abnormally high levels of nitric oxide in those with lupus, or other autoimmune conditions, can make the skin's blood vessels dilate, bringing more body heat to the surface – causing warmth, skin reddening and sweat.
The stiffness and muscle pain associated with lupus can benefit from heat, like sitting in a sauna or soaking in a hot tub. The warm water of the spa helps to ease stiffness and relieve pain, as well as stop muscle spasms.
Researchers gave a group of 31 people with lupus vitamin D3 supplements for a year. Those with a vitamin D deficiency took 8,000 international units (IU) daily for 8 weeks, followed by 2,000 IU daily. Those with a vitamin D insufficiency took 8,000 IU daily for 4 weeks, followed by 2,000 IU daily.
Although doctors haven't proven that stress is a direct cause of lupus, it's known to trigger flare-ups in people who already have the disease. Stressful events that can make symptoms worse include: A death in the family.
The effects lupus may have in and around the eyes include: changes in the skin around the eyelids, dry eyes, inflammation of the white outer layer of the eyeball, blood vessel changes in the retina, and damage to nerves controlling eye movement and affecting vision.
Prepare for long-distance travel
Some people with lupus are also at higher risk for developing blood clots when they sit too long. Try to stop for stretch breaks every hour during long drives and stand up and move around regularly during long flights.
Anti-nuclear antibodies (ANA) are autoantibodies to the nuclei of your cells. 98% of all people with systemic lupus have a positive ANA test, making it the most sensitive diagnostic test for confirming diagnosis of the disease.
One common lung problem in people with lupus is pleuritis, or inflammation of the tissue that covers the lungs. These inflamed lung surfaces can rub against each other when you breathe, causing chest pain. Pleuritis can also cause shortness of breath.
Kidneys About one half of people with lupus experience kidney involvement, and the kidney has become the most extensively studied organ affected by lupus.
In 2020 and 2021, two new drugs (anifrolumab and voclosporin) were approved for the treatment of lupus or lupus nephritis; and a third one, belimumab (previously approved for the treatment of lupus), was approved for the treatment of lupus nephritis.
Saphnelo (anifrolumab)—approved in August 2021. This monoclonal antibody (a protein that finds and attaches to one type of substance, called a cytokine, in the body) is designed to treat an excess of interferon activation, which plays an essential role in lupus inflammation.