Health Writer's Month: A Miracle Cure

Today's Health Writer's Month topic is one that lots of people with lupus, and similar conditions dream of.
Miracle Cure. Write a news-style article on a miracle cure. What’s the cure? How do you get the cure? Be sure to include a disclaimer ;)




Potential Lupus Cure Goes To Clinical Trials

Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital

Researchers at the Queensland University and Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital have developed a potential new cure for lupus.

Head of the research team, Professor John Bloggs, said the revolutionary new treatment had shown good results in rats, and had now been approved for clinical trial in humans.

He said the new treatment would effectively rebuild the over-active immune systems of lupus patients.

RBWH Rheumatologist, Dr Sarah Tinycat said: "The immune system is meant to protect the human body from infection."

"In lupus patients, the immune system becomes confused, and attacks the body's own healthy tissue."

Dr  Sarah Tinycat
Photo courtesy icanhascheezburger.com

Dr Tinycat said the new treatment would take the patient's own adult stem cells, and use them to build  a new immune system for patients with lupus.

Radiation therapy would be used to "kill the existing, malfunctioning, immune system."

She said the risks were similar to those faced by leukaemia patients undergoing bone marrow transplants.

"Until now, we've only had treatments to manage lupus.  This is a permanent cure," Dr Tinycat said.

She said the new procedure could potentially be extended to other auto-immune disease as well as lupus.

Written as part of Wego Health's
Health Activist Writer's Month Challenge

Disclaimer - this is entirely fantasy.  Keep hoping and praying for the day it's true! (Maybe not the bit about having a kitten for a rheumatologist, though.)