Lupus And Pregnancy: What Should You Know?
The combination of lupus and pregnancy is possible, especially in these times that the therapeutic management of the disease has notably improved, reducing the adverse effects of the medications used in it.
Keep in mind that a large part of the problems when combining lupus and pregnancy comes from pharmacology. Medications to reduce lupus attacks often cause infertility or malformations in the fetus.
For this reason, women with lupus are always instructed to plan their pregnancy well in advance so that the doctor can tailor treatment to the situation. Today this is possible, thanks to the development of active principles that supplant the previous ones.
As we will see in this article, after proper planning, women with lupus disease are able to conceive with relative safety. They will have to undergo more controls than another pregnant woman without comorbidities, but it is viable.
What is lupus?
Lupus is an autoimmune disease. This means that the immune system itself attacks its own cells, ignoring them. It identifies some tissues as external or threatening, and inflames them with a reaction similar to that which takes place when fighting viral or bacterial diseases.
The pathology is chronic and evolves in the form of exacerbations. There may be periods of inactivity, where there are no symptoms, but then acute episodes that are severe and disabling ensue.
The tissues most affected by lupus are the articular, dermal and kidney. There is also involvement of the lungs and the brain, but its characteristic symptoms derive from the joints and the skin.
When we talk about lupus and pregnancy, we are referring to a woman who has a previous diagnosis of lupus, and becomes pregnant at some point in her life. Then, the alerts are lit because there are records that refer to an increase in the incidence of pregnancy problems in these women.
In addition, there is a specific disorder, which does not always happen, and which is called neonatal lupus. This happens when the baby receives the antibodies that the mother has and that are the cause of lupus in her. The child will have skin and blood problems, and in severe cases may suffer from heart problems.