First school for patients with systemic lupus erythematosus opens in Kazakhstan
The opening ceremony will take place on August 23 in Almaty city polyclinic №6. "This school will allow patients to learn more about their illness. People suffering from SLE will closer communicate with doctors and other patients with similar disease", said the head of the Department of Rheumatology, Almaty State Institute of Advanced Medical Studies, Zhazira Omarbekova. Systemic lupus erythematosus is a systemic autoimmune disease (or autoimmune connective tissue disease) that can affect any part of the body. As occurs in other autoimmune diseases, the immune system attacks the body's cells and tissue, resulting in inflammation and tissue damage. SLE most often harms the heart, joints, skin, lungs, blood vessels, liver, kidneys, and nervous system. The course of the disease is unpredictable, with periods of illness (called flares) alternating with remissions. The disease occurs nine times more often in women than in men, especially in women in child-bearing years ages 15 to 35.