Of late, after the sad and untimely death of Mrs. Tharoor, I've got a lot many calls from friends and relatives about Lekha's ailment saying that they didn't know it to be that serious. The brief mention in the media that it's a dangerous ailment doesn't make matters easier. And therefore, I thought that I must clear the cobwebs, at least, in a few minds about the ailment from whatever little knowledge that I've acquired over a period of time as Lekha's doctors and me took her through the various stages of treatment.
(a) So, what's SLE?
It's an acronym for 'Systemic Lupus Erythmatosus' wherein the antibodies of the patient loses the power
to differentiate the disease germs from the good cells in the body, thereby, destroying the white blood
corpuscles resulting in a drastic reduction in immunity. Its causal factors are hereditary and here's where
that one needs to understand that anything 'hereditary' covers a period of the previous seven generations.
Understand, then, the difficulty to keep a track of such information when there are many among us who're
not even aware of the names of our great grandparents! The drastic fluctuations in the 'platelet count'
of the blood is an indicator!
(b) The other aspects of SLE.
These are the additional aspects of the ailment:-
(i) the ratio of the occurrence of the illness is about 1: 20,000.
(ii) it usually manifests more in girls than in boys - 8 out of every 10 cases have been observed to
be girls.
(iii) the illness is very vigorous between 20 and 30 years of age.
(iv) it's very difficult to diagnose and hence dangerous, as the finding would tend to be too little too
late.
(vi) as the ailment gets into full bloom, the patient gets a perceptible 'butterfly' patterned rash around
the nose.
(vii) the illness is managed by the administration of cortisone/steroids along with others.
(viii) the illness cannot be cured totally and there are two schools of thought among the medical fraternity
regarding its management which are:-
(aa) put the patient on a low, sustained dosage of steroids for life.
(ab) take the patient off all medicines, carry out periodic checks of the parameters and tackle
any perking up with a corresponding dosage of steroids!
Incidentally, the patient has a sustained low fever during the period with almost no appetite!
Lekha's story.
She's been fortunate in having an excellent group of doctors who'd seen her through tough times and I must mention them for their acumen in pinpointing the ailment so that timely medical interventions could be provided. We'd like to place on record our deep gratitude to the following wonderful doctors:-
(a) Lt Col Bhatta - he was the first to cast a doubt about the ailment at the MH, Wellington
in autumn '91.
(b) Dr Joseph Kurien - he brought her out of her tough times at Lisie hospital in Aug '93.
(c) Late Lt Col Achuthan
Kannampilly - he helped her recoup with his encouraging conversations every Saturday
at the Army Hospital, New Delhi in '93-'94.
(d) Surg Cdr Ashok
Bhagra - his effective management brought about further improvement and she
was taken off all medicines in '00 at the R&R hospital, New Delhi.
(e) Dr B Ramachandran - he'd put her back on medicines, no steroids, when the ailment had perked
up in Sep '09.
(f) Dr Padmanabha
Shenoy - currently manages her at the Amritha hospital in Kochi.
So much about SLE - dangerous if not diagnosed but controllable with drugs if detected on time.
Tailpiece.
RIP Mrs Tharoor. My prayers and here's wishing that god gives the immediate family adequate strength to tide over these difficult times.
(a) So, what's SLE?
It's an acronym for 'Systemic Lupus Erythmatosus' wherein the antibodies of the patient loses the power
to differentiate the disease germs from the good cells in the body, thereby, destroying the white blood
corpuscles resulting in a drastic reduction in immunity. Its causal factors are hereditary and here's where
that one needs to understand that anything 'hereditary' covers a period of the previous seven generations.
Understand, then, the difficulty to keep a track of such information when there are many among us who're
not even aware of the names of our great grandparents! The drastic fluctuations in the 'platelet count'
of the blood is an indicator!
(b) The other aspects of SLE.
These are the additional aspects of the ailment:-
(i) the ratio of the occurrence of the illness is about 1: 20,000.
(ii) it usually manifests more in girls than in boys - 8 out of every 10 cases have been observed to
be girls.
(iii) the illness is very vigorous between 20 and 30 years of age.
(iv) it's very difficult to diagnose and hence dangerous, as the finding would tend to be too little too
late.
(vi) as the ailment gets into full bloom, the patient gets a perceptible 'butterfly' patterned rash around
the nose.
(vii) the illness is managed by the administration of cortisone/steroids along with others.
(viii) the illness cannot be cured totally and there are two schools of thought among the medical fraternity
regarding its management which are:-
(aa) put the patient on a low, sustained dosage of steroids for life.
(ab) take the patient off all medicines, carry out periodic checks of the parameters and tackle
any perking up with a corresponding dosage of steroids!
Incidentally, the patient has a sustained low fever during the period with almost no appetite!
Lekha's story.
She's been fortunate in having an excellent group of doctors who'd seen her through tough times and I must mention them for their acumen in pinpointing the ailment so that timely medical interventions could be provided. We'd like to place on record our deep gratitude to the following wonderful doctors:-
(a) Lt Col Bhatta - he was the first to cast a doubt about the ailment at the MH, Wellington
in autumn '91.
(b) Dr Joseph Kurien - he brought her out of her tough times at Lisie hospital in Aug '93.
(c) Late Lt Col Achuthan
Kannampilly - he helped her recoup with his encouraging conversations every Saturday
at the Army Hospital, New Delhi in '93-'94.
(d) Surg Cdr Ashok
Bhagra - his effective management brought about further improvement and she
was taken off all medicines in '00 at the R&R hospital, New Delhi.
(e) Dr B Ramachandran - he'd put her back on medicines, no steroids, when the ailment had perked
up in Sep '09.
(f) Dr Padmanabha
Shenoy - currently manages her at the Amritha hospital in Kochi.
So much about SLE - dangerous if not diagnosed but controllable with drugs if detected on time.
Tailpiece.
RIP Mrs Tharoor. My prayers and here's wishing that god gives the immediate family adequate strength to tide over these difficult times.
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