A Promising New Treatment for Lupus Kidney Disease
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an out-of-control, malignant attack on the body by its own immune system. It can be a horrible illness that may affect virtually every organ of the body. One of the worst things is that it can lead to renal (kidney) failure. Until now, the treatments of SLE have been either symptomatic or "disease-modifying." The second is what we really want: to prevent the illness from progressing. But it has been very difficult to do that, and I have seen some real tragedies in my career.
We now have a new approach that highlights a new approach to illness in general. Students are usually taught that there are diagnostic tests for illnesses like SLE or prostate cancer. The idea of using the tests for treatment is fairly new. So one of the proteins that goes up in prostate cancer becomes the target for treatment.
But what about SLE?
SLE is a chronic inflammatory disease in which the body produces antibodies against the nuclear components of its own cells. The most worrying are antibodies to double-stranded DNA (dsDNA). These antibodies can be triggered by genetics, environmental factors like sunlight and some drugs.
The antibodies attack the body’s cells and tissue, resulting in inflammation and tissue
damage. SLE can affect any part of the body, but most often damages the heart, joints, skin, lungs, blood vessels, liver, kidneys and nervous system.
La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company just announced positive interim antibody results from its ongoing double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized Phase 3 trials of Riquent(R) (abetimus sodium). This is a drug candidate for SLE. Analyses of interim antibody data indicate that patients treated with 900 mg or 300 mg per week doses of Riquent had greater reductions in dsDNA antibodies than patients treated with 100 mg per week or placebo. The results showed a significant dose response when comparing all Riquent-treated patients to placebo-treated patients (p < 0.0001), and each Riquent dose group to the placebo dose group (p < 0.0015 for 100 mg, p < 0.0001 for 300 mg and 900 mg).
For people not used to looking at statistics, these are impressive data.
Clearly other analysts feel the same way: the price of the company’s shares went up 40% on the announcement.
We shall keep an eye on the development of this new medicine to see if it fulfills this early promise. At this moment the data are very exciting.
Shock Waves and Diabetes
A psychiatrist friend once called me to say that he knew that he had to change his job. He was in the second year of his Freudian training analysis, and as he was driving to work he experienced a severe pain in the back. He told me that it felt as if someone had put a knife in his back. This, he told me, was a psychosomatic reflection of the mean back stabbing environment in which he was working. “Tell me more about the pain,” I said. “Just like a knife,” he said, “it’s the most obvious example of my body telling me what’s going on here.” I suggested that he should come over for me to give him a physical check up, but he was having none of it.
The following day he passed a large kidney stone.
It’s important to listen to your body, and to try and understand its message. It’s also important to respect every aspect of your being: physical, psychological, social, subtle and spiritual. A physical pain may be telling you about something in your environment or it may just be telling you that there’s something wrong with your body. Sigmund Freud once famously remarked that “Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.”
I was reminded of this story as I was reviewing a new report about an association between the use of sound waves – lithotripsy – to shatter kidney stones and the eventual development of diabetes. Approximately 10 percent of men and 5 percent of women under the age of 70 will experience a kidney stone.
Surgery for kidney stones used to be horribly traumatic. As a very young student and junior doctor I assisted in more than one operation to remove them. The invention of the lithotripter – a device that uses ultrasound to break up stones, so that they can be passed out of the body – was a big advance. Though the treatment itself is far from being painless, it is much better than major surgery, It is a shame to learn that the treatment is not as innocuous as we thought. This is important, because about 1 million people in the United States have had shock wave lithotripsy (SWL).
In a study published in the May issue of the Journal of Urology, researchers at the Mayo Clinic followed up on a group of 630 patients who had been treated with SWL in 1985. The Mayo was one of the first centers to use the technique, the hospital keeps wonderful records, and so it was one of the few places in the world where it was possible to follow people 19 years after treatment.
Almost 60 percent of the patients responded to a questionnaire and were matched to an equal number of patients whose kidney stones had been treated by some other method. Among the SWL group, 16.8 percent had developed diabetes, compared with 6.7 percent of the control group, and 36.4 percent had high blood pressure compared with 27.9 percent of the control group. According to the study, the development of hypertension was related to the treatment of stones in both kidneys, while the onset of diabetes bore a relationship to the number of shocks administered and the intensity of the treatment.
This makes sense: the kidneys are key controllers of blood pressure, and it has long been known that stones, inflammation, infection or vascular disease in the kidneys can cause elevated blood pressure. Perhaps the treatment scars the kidneys. And it is not surprising that sound waves powerful enough to shatter a stone might also cause damage to the tissues through which they are passing; which include the pancreas.
These findings will need to be replicated, particularly with newer model lithotripters. But even before that, I’m sure that the criteria for gets the treatment will be modified, and it will also be necessary to re-think how the treatment is done. As an example, instead of shooting one powerful burst of sound waves at the stone, it may be necessary to fire several low intensity burst from different directions that all crisscross in the vicinity of the stone.
For now, if you are one of the unlucky ones who gets a kidney stone, discuss this new research with your doctor before having lithotripsy. And if you have access to a good acupuncturist, naturopath or homeopath, ask them if they have had any success in treating kidney stones, and if “Yes,” whether they would be prepared to work with your physician to help you.
