Being diagnosed with a chronic illness can be devastating. And even with proper treatment and a support network, you have to face broken branches, droughts and downpours to wait for the new foliage.

The month of February was chosen to raise awareness of three chronic diseases: fibromyalgia, lupus and Alzheimer’s, and it’s called Purple February. Here you can find out more about each one of them, learn to recognize the symptoms and understand the importance of early diagnosis, constant attention and the resilience of those who deal with them.

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What are chronic diseases?

  • Gradual onset, long or uncertain duration
  • They generally have multiple causes
  • Treatment involves changes in lifestyle
  • They require continuous care
  • There’s no guaranteed cure

Purple February: Fibromyalgia, Lupus and Alzheimer’s Awareness Month

Fibromyalgia

What it is

It is a neurological condition characterized by general muscle pain lasting more than three months, but with no evidence of inflammation in the pain areas. Although there is no single condition responsible for its occurrence, it is believed to be a combination of hormonal, infectious, genetic and environmental factors.

According to the Brazilian Society of Rheumatology, fibromyalgia affects around 2.5% of the world’s population, usually women between the ages of 30 and 50.

Even though it doesn’t cause deformities or complications in the joints and muscles, the patients’ quality of life is greatly impaired by the pain.

Symptoms

Constant body pain

Intense pain when touched

Frequent exhaustion

Sleep disorders

Muscle stiffness

Memory and concentration problems

Irritable bowel syndrome

In addition to these symptoms, fibromyalgia can cause “mental fog“, which is when the person experiences impaired thinking that ends up affecting their memory and ability to concentrate. For this reason, fibromyalgia patients are also at greater risk of developing depression or other psychological disorders.

Diagnosis

As there are no tests to determine the disease, medical teams must always be attentive to patients’ symptoms and complaints.

Treatment

As there is no cure for fibromyalgia, the treatment aims to alleviate symptoms and ensure quality of life for those who suffer from it. This can be done with the use of antidepressants, muscle relaxants and neuromodulators. All prescribed by doctors, of course. At the same time, aerobic exercised are a great ally for easing these discomforts.

In addition, alternative therapies such as acupuncture, physiotherapy, aromatherapy and psychotherapy can be used to fight the pain.

Lupus

What it is

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), or just lupus, is an inflammatory, chronic, autoimmune disease in which cells of the immune system go out of control and attack the healthy structures of the person’s own body, including joints, skin, kidneys, bone marrow, heart, lungs, eyes and brain.

The Brazilian Society of Rheumatology estimates that around 65,000 Brazilians between the ages of 20 and 45 are affected by the disease, with the majority being women.

Like many other autoimmune diseases, lupus has no single known cause, but rather a probable combination of genetic, hormonal, infectious and environmental factors.

Symptoms

The symptoms of lupus can develop in different organs and at different paces. Some of them are general, such as:

Fever

Weight loss

Weakness

Loss of
appetite

Discomfort

Discouragement

When lupus develops on the skin, it usually causes red blotches on the areas most exposed to the sun. internal organs, it causes inflammation such as joint pain and kidney problems, among others.

Diagnosis

As the symptoms vary greatly from person to person and can change over time – even resembling those of other illnesses – it is not easy to diagnose lupus. There is also no specific test to detect it, but rather a series of blood, urine, antibody and DNA tests, etc.

Treatment

The course of treatment for lupus will depend on the symptoms and their severity.

Mild
  • Anti-inflammatories
  • Corticosteroids
  • Sunscreen
  • Among others
Severe
  • High doses of corticosteroids or immunosuppressants (which reduce the immune system’s response)
  • Drugs that block cell growth

Alzheimer’s

What it is

In Brazil, around 1.2 million people live with some type of dementia. Perhaps the best known of these, Alzheimer’s occurs during failures in the processing of certain proteins in the central nervous system. As a result, fragments of toxic proteins settle in empty areas between neurons and cause their progressive loss in regions of the brain (such as those that control memory, language, reasoning and sensory stimuli, among others).

The disease is more common in people over 65 and with a family background of the disease, depression, deafness and smoking, for example. But there are also less frequent cases of premature Alzheimer’s.

Symptoms

Initial Stage

  • Changes in recent memory
  • Disorientation in familiar environments
  • Difficulties in making simple decisions
  • Constantly repeating the same information
  • Loss of interest
  • Changing behavior
  • Anxiety

Intermediate Stage

  • Difficulties with personal hygiene
  • Difficulty communicating
  • Difficulty reading and writing
  • Disorientation in familiar places
  • Hallucinations
  • Loss of impulse control
  • Suspicion
  • Sleep disorders

Advanced Stage

  • Not memorizing information
  • Forgetting family, friends and familiar places
  • Urinary and fecal incontinence
  • Difficulty swallowing food
  • Inappropriate behavior, such as burping or spitting on the floor
  • Losing the ability to make simple movements with the arms and legs, such as eating with a spoon
  • Difficulty walking, sitting or standing

Source: Tua Saúde

Diagnosis

Detecting Alzheimer’s requires a series of assessments, such as neurological examination, blood tests, brain imaging and cognitive tests. And just like fibromyalgia and lupus, early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s is a determining factor in controlling the disease.

Treatment

Even though there is no cure for Alzheimer’s, in the early stages it is possible to try to slow down the progress of the disease and alleviate some of the symptoms with drugs such as donepezil and galantamine. In addition, of course, to physiotherapy, occupational therapy, psychotherapy and other complementary care.

Is it possible to prevent these diseases?

The major common point among the three diseases is that none of them can be prevented or cured categorically. What is known, however, is that keeping good habits, although not helping to prevent them, certainly helps to maintain well-being and quality of life during treatment. They are:

Practicing physical activity

Keeping a balanced diet

Avoiding alcohol

Keeping an active mind

Nurturing interpersonal relationships

Taking care of mental health

Care and resilience

As we’ve already mentioned, receiving a diagnosis of a chronic disease can have a huge impact on patients’ lives. And since there is no cure, the focus must be on care – medical, psychological, family, etc.

Daily life with a chronic illness is not linear: there are good days and others not so good. That’s why it’s important to try to stay aware and resilient when facing difficulties.

Support Network

In addition to multidisciplinary medical care and other alternative therapies, it is important to remember that patients with these diseases often also need help from family members, friends and even professional caregivers to accompany them to appointments, prepare food, help them get around or even provide emotional support during difficult times.

According to the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), the number of family members caring for people over 60 was 5.1 million in 2019. However, the number of informal caregivers is believed to be underreported.

Especially in cases of Alzheimer’s, where the person gradually loses their memory, the daily life of the caregiver can be very stressful and trigger anxiety, depression, burnout and other symptoms.

Tiredness, guilt, lack of time and privacy are some of the challenges that caregivers face. That’s why we need to remember to take care of those we care for, offering emotional support so that the caregiver doesn’t end up getting sick too.

Now that you know more about some chronic diseases, how about sharing quality content with those you know?

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Technical Manager:
Dr. Sérgio Hércules
CRM 61.605