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Stories for Reprint
Kids with Lupus Gain More Fat
and Less Muscle
By Ferdous Al-Faruque, MARRTC Staff
A new study by the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania has found that children with lupus not only tend to gain more fat but also develop less muscle.
"In general people that don't have chronic illness that are obese have a lot of fat but they also build up a lot of muscle to carry around the fat," says Tracey Wright a rheumatology fellow at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. However, for a lot of children with lupus that's not the case and instead they continue to get fatter without gaining muscle mass.
Steroids are a major reason why children with lupus gain weight. Steroids are often prescribed to reduce painful inflammation. Unfortunately common side effects of the drugs are an increased appetite and a tendency to change the way the body stores fat. "With our patients we use medications that we know help fight the disease but we also know steroids have side effects to the patient too," says Wright, one of the researchers of the study. She says the key is to find a balance between how much steroids they can give their patients and how much harm it can cause.
Wright says it's crucial parents and children with lupus are educated on the consequences of gaining extra weight. She says this is especially disturbing because people with chronic illnesses who have more fat and less muscle get more infections and other diseases, and have higher mortality rates.
In some cases health care professionals will tell overweight patients to lose a few pounds but Wright says for a lot of people that's easier said than done. "Dietary changes and exercise are hard for anyone," she says. "Even for people like us without a chronic illness it's hard watching our diet." However, she adds that for children with lupus it can be especially hard to lose weight because of the medications.
Wright also says children who are constantly hungry from the side effects of the steroids need to be taught how to eat healthier and especially healthier snacks. Some clinics and hospitals have dieticians who can help parents and children with lupus customize their diet. Wright says children with the disease should see a dietician at least once a year to talk about their diet but if there are no dieticians at the hospital or clinic, physicians should consider referring patients to a registered dietician.
Lupus is a disease where the body's immune system attacks healthy cells causing various conditions such as skin rashes and even organ failure.
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