What is the treatment of SLE?
There is no curative treatment available. The goal of therapy is to decrease the autoimmune activity in the body and severity of organ damage – Therapy consists of a combination of medications, rest and patient education. Those patients with mild symptoms need no treatment or only short courses of anti-inflammatory medications. Those with severe illness involving internal organs require high doses of steroids and other medications to suppress body immune system. Anti-inflammatory drugs commonly used are NSAIDs such as aspirin, ibuprofen, etc. Sometimes individual response to NSAIDS may vary and different NSAIDs may be tried to find the most effective one for the patient. The most common side effects of the NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) are gastritis and stomach ulcers. Hence, they are usually taken with food. Corticosteroids are helpful when internal organs are involved. However, they have several side effects and hence are given under a doctor’s guidance with regular
