Tomball TX Best Rheumatologist for Lupus

If you are looking for the Tomball TX best rheumatologist for lupus, then you should contact Advanced Rheumatology of Houston today. Lupus is a complex disease capable of being very serious. Patients need the best rheumatologist in order to diagnose and treat lupus. Fortunately, Advanced Rheumatology of Houston has Dr. Brionez.

Dr. Brionez has more than ten years of experience in rheumatology. She graduated from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Science in Nutritional Sciences. Then, she attended Baylor College of Medicine for her Doctor of Medicine. Near the same time, she completed her Fellowship in Rheumatology.

Dr. Brionez is compassionate and caring for patients.

Then, in 2007, Dr. Brionez became board-certified in internal medicine. Two years later, she became a board-certified rheumatologist. Since 2009, she has been in practice. She has helped numerous patients overcome their rheumatologic conditions. Lupus is just one illness she can help patients with. The other diseases she is capable of treating and diagnosing can be found below.

Rheumatoid Arthritis
Psoriatic Arthritis
Lupus
Osteoarthritis
Gout
Spondyloarthritis
Sjogrens Syndrome
Myositis
Vasculitis
Osteoporosis
Polymyalgia Rheumatica
Scleroderma

These diseases affect millions of people every year. It is important to have a support group, and a skilled rheumatologist is a crucial part of that team. Dr. Brionez and her team at Advanced Rheumatology of Houston will support patients so they can live comfortable lives.

What is Lupus?

Lupus is an autoimmune disease. Normally, immune systems attack foreign pathogens in the body. Viruses and infections are a few examples. In an autoimmune disease, the immune system mistakes healthy tissue as being a threat. So, it starts attacking healthy tissues, which causes inflammation. When it comes to lupus, it can affect the skin, joints, and even organs. The brain, heart, lungs, and kidneys are common organs affected by the disease.

Anyone is capable of developing lupus, but there are some demographics more prone to the disease. African Americans and Asians tend to have lupus more often. Furthermore, 20 percent of lupus patients are children or teenagers. More specifically, most of that demographic are females. Females are ten more times likely to develop lupus then males. Females will usually show signs of the disease during puberty.

When it comes to symptoms of lupus, they are all over the body. Lupus is hard to identify because it causes various symptoms related to all kinds of other diseases. For example, symptoms such as fevers, fatigue, and weight loss are not exclusive to lupus. For this reason, lupus is difficult to diagnose. However, there are guidelines rheumatologists follow in order to identify its presence in patients.

Lupus Symptoms

You can see the full list of symptoms for lupus below.

Fever
Fatigue
Heartburn
Weight loss
Hair loss
Stomach pain
Chest pain with deep breathing
Rashes
Cold toes or fingers due to poor circulation
Mouth or nose sores
Sore or swollen joints (arthritis)
Kidney issues
Neurologic conditions
Pregnant women may have miscarriages

Lupus Diagnosis

If Dr. Brionez notices your symptoms, then she will carefully examine them. There are many other rheumatologic conditions with similar symptoms. So, she will want to rule other diseases out before jumping to lupus. Certain blood tests will be run, and one that is important to lupus is known as an ANA test. The ANA test detects antinuclear antibodies in the patient.

Antinuclear antibodies are found in almost every single lupus patient. If a patient’s test comes back positive, then they will be diagnosed with lupus. Further tests will be performed in order to find the antibodies more specifically related to the lupus disease. If the test is negative, then, Dr. Brionez will look at other causes of the symptoms.

Treating Lupus

There is no cure for lupus, so treatment aims to reduce symptoms and the immune system’s activity. Fortunately, there are many medications that achieve such objectives. Antimalarial drugs are recommended for all patients with lupus. These drugs were once used for preventing and treating malaria. Since then, they have been repurposed to treat various symptoms of lupus.

Fatigue, mouth sores, rashes, and lupus-related arthritis are the symptoms it can help fight off. Moreover, these medications may be used to prevent flares of the disease. There are times when lupus can go into remission, which is when the disease seems to be no longer present in the patient. Flares occur when the disease appears again in a more intense way.

Corticosteroids are used for patients with severe cases of lupus. As mentioned earlier, vital organs affected by the disease are considered to be serious. If lupus is not kept under control, then it can have serious effects on the patient. So, corticosteroids are capable of suppressing the immune system. This suppression keeps attacks off and improves the comfort of patients. Plus, some corticosteroids reduce pain.

SLE-BRAVE

Help others with lupus by participating in the SLE-BRAVE study.

Advanced Rheumatology of Houston is happy to participate in the SLE-BRAVE research study. This study is testing a new investigational drug alongside lupus therapy. SLE-BRAVE may uncover an effective treatment option for lupus patients. There are still patients who do not respond to current treatment options. That said, research studies are helping find a treatment option that helps even more patients.

SLE-BRAVE is a 62-week research study (14 months). Patients will be split into two groups: one with the real drug an the other with a placebo. Participants and the doctor will not know which version of the drug the participant has. The doctor will address how patients are responding to the drug in order to report the results.