As Fall television shows return (YAY!) and lame summer shows end (YAY!), I’m really looking forward to House M.D. For those who haven’t watched it and love sarcasm and critical thinking (sarcasm and critical thinking are usually hand-in-hand), you should; but not for the crazy mumbo jumbo medicine they throw at you or for the quirky remarks Dr. House entails on his group of minions, but to count the number of times the cast uses “Lupus.” In previous seasons, Lupus was always used in every episode–but it never is Lupus. Let’s count how many times Lupus is brought up; and at the end of the season, the winner gets a cookie unless they decide to use a new disease (dun dun DUN!!).
If you have no idea what Lupus is, here is a brief explanation. If you require in-depth explanation, please refer to thaimarathon.com, thearthritispainreliever.com or if you prefer, wikipedia.org.
Lupus is an autoimmune disease with no cure. And like many autoimmune diseases, Lupus can have a multitude of symptoms. Lupus is known to affect the joints, blood vessels, skin, lungs and even the central nervous system (the brain). Symptoms associated with Lupus is far and wide, but here are the most common symptoms: pain, swelling and stiffness of the joints, fever, kidney infections, mouth sores, skin rashes, pronounced fatigue and body weakness. Even though people living with Lupus can live a relatively healthy and active life, they can also experience periods of symptomatic remission and relapse even with treatment.
There are five main forms of Lupus, but I’ll only mention four: Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), Discoid Lupus Erythematosus (DLE), Neonatal Lupus Erythematosus (NLE), and Drug-induced Lupus (DIL). SLE is the most common form of Lupus and is considered highly problematic and difficult to diagnosis. DLE primarily affects the skin and can become systemic over time. NLE affects newborn babies of mothers with SLE or other similar autoimmune diseases. Infants infected usually experience congenital heart and circulatory problems and require immediate medical intervention. Drug-induced Lupus results from medication intolerance.
Now, you know why House’s team always brings up Lupus because anything could be Lupus.
On a related note: since we’ve recently taken to throwing in House, M.D. DVDs for background noise, Sarah and I have developed a drinking game of sorts centered around lumbar punctures… although you get more drinks out of an episode by drinking for every little chunk of cinematic drama surrounding the procedure rather than just one for the procedure itself… like a cut to a grimace of pain gets a drink, as does family reactions to same… but the TRULY hardcore (or desirous of sleep, like myself) can down a shot for EACH SYLLABLE in the administering doctor’s “sorry, it won’t hurt much longer” spiel. Include the post-poke “you shouldn’t do anything for a while” speech for bonus points!