Can dance help lupus?

I want to know other treatments for Lupus other then medicated drugs.

My bestfriends wife has Lupus and she takes dance .....She goes after work sometimes 5 times a week and as long as I've know her she been doing that...( about 10 years) She swears that it works for her Lupus.........She also on a strict diet......I have another friend that swims every other evening that has Lupus.....

Hi

I have Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) and a very low carbohydrate ORGANIC diet really helps. If I eat very few carbs, and certainly no refined (processed) carbohydrates, I remain symptom free.

That may not work for everyone, but it works for many poeple with SLE.

Hope that helps.

Good from the exercise and aerobic point of view

Any activity that is low impact will help the symptoms of Lupus, ie painful joints. However, excercise can actually help cause Lupus flares. Lupus has many triggers one of which is stress. Even though it is thought that excercise reduces stress, it first causes the heart rate and blood pressure to rise, the first indications to the body that it is under stress. I'm not saying that you shouldn't excercise, just that you do so with caution, stay within specific heart/bp ranges. Don't over do it. As far as other treatments for Lupus rather than medication...unfortunately there aren't any. You'll hear tons of people over the net and at health food stores saying eat this and stay away from that but in actuality this is just a lot of hot air. There are no scientific studies to back any of their info up. Ask them and they'll admit as much. It's like asking what other treatments are there for cancer without taking medications.

The best thing to do is eat a healthy diet, staying away from junk food, excercise moderately with low impact activities such as swimming and make sure to keep in close contact with your doctors. If certain medications are bothering you, then let them know and ask for alternatives but by all means stay on the meds that are actually helping. Discuss any 'herbal' cure that is being pushed out there with your doctor before just trying it. They can actually do a lot of harm.

I wish you the best of luck!

Types of exercise that you can practice include the following:

Range-of-motion exercise
Range-of-motion exercises (for example, stretching) help maintain normal joint movement and relieve stiffness. This type of exercise helps maintain or increase flexibility.

Strengthening exercise
Strengthening exercises (for example, weight-lifting) help keep or increase muscle strength. Strong muscles help support and protect joints affected by lupus.

Aerobic or endurance exercise
Aerobic or endurance exercises (for example, brisk walking or jogging) improve cardiovascular fitness, help control weight, and improve overall function.

People with chronic diseases like lupus should check with their health care professional before starting an exercise program.

Dance could be an excellent tool to add to your lupus self management tool box, but not the only one.

Dance is good because it increases circulation and cardiovascular health (lupus patients are at higher risk for hardening of the arteries than the general population), it lubricates joints and helps maintain joint health, elevates mood and reduces pain by the release of endorphins, and releases stress which is a major factor in lupus activity.

But dance alone will not do fix your lupus. Lupus is your immune system gone haywire. It's not natural for this to happen. And there are no natural cures. Whatever you do should be done in consulation with your rheumatologist. Stopping some drugs cold turkey can be dangerous or even fatal. With lupus you cannot necessarily feel the slow progress of damage in your organs. The medication are there to help prevent long term damage. Once that damage is done, therei no reversing it.

Remember hemlock and arsenic are natural and they can kill you. But, using dance in conjunction with your medical regimen and along with clear communication between you and your rheumatologist might result in your needing less medication. But don't make that decision alone.