Lower Back Pain, Chronic Inflammation, & Lupus

Tests to help determine lupus nephritis Urine Test The urine test will detect if there is any protein in the urine. Diseases that affect kidneys many times cause your glomeruli to leak protein into your urine causing it to have a foamy appearance. The term for the condition of having protein in the urine is called proteinuria. A symptom of lupus nephritis is blood in the urine. Although it’s typically easy to spot blood in the urine, a urine test can detect this as well. Blood Test There are several things technicians look for with diagnostic labs involving the blood. The first is cholesterol and protein levels. When they are high, that means the kidneys are not filtering waste the way they should. Blood tests also check the GFR (glomerular filtration rate), which also shows how well kidneys filter waste. Finally, blood tests check for antiphospholipid antibodies and anti-nuclear antibodies (ANA), which indicate autoimmune diseases.. Kidney Biopsy A biopsy of the kidney can also detect if a case has evolved into lupus nephritis. Biopsies are invasive procedures where a clinician removes a small slice of a particular organ for analysis under a microscope. Muscle Inflammation—Myositis A very common cause of lower back pain for Lupus Warriors is muscle inflammation. Lupus does not only inflame a muscle, it inflames muscle groups. The medical term for this is myositis. Muscle Aches—Myalgia When there is a dull aching constant pain of the muscles, the medical term to use is myalgia. Myalgia is usually considered chronic—unlike inflammation. Chronic pain—especially chronic lower back pain—can interfere with daily life.

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