More b*ll*cks about Lupus

Related to my post yesterday, there is now talk that Michael Jackson had lupus. Actually this isn't so far fetched and could go some way to explaining his wearing of the glove to cover his hand, his occasional wheelchair use, the umbrella to keep off the sun and maybe even his dependence on pain killers, if that proves to be the case. Initially I felt a little disappointed that he had not been open about this during his life but then when I read this quote from his 'friend', Dr Deepak Chopra

"if children have experienced either physical or verbal, mental, emotional or sexual abuse, then 20,30 years later they can develop these autoimmune disorders such as lupus"

..I was more sympathetic. No wonder he never felt able to be honest about it if this was the kind of cr*p he was being told! There is a link between symptoms and stress, as stress affects the immune system, but this is far from straightforward. Of course there is no reason why people who have been abused shouldn't get lupus but as far as I can see there is no reliable evidence that suggests that they are more vulnerable to it! I have never been abused and I don't drink diet coke but I still have an auto-immune disease.