Investigating the Efficacy of Alternative Therapies in Reducing Symptoms Associated with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Introduction: Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is a condition which can affect organs throughout the body. Often, patients with SLE complain of symptoms such as joint pain and fatigue. The treatments available for this disease include steroids and immunosuppressants, which are associated with many negative side effects and high cost. In this study, Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) treatments of SLE (I), were evaluated to determine their safety and efficacy in reducing disease activity and providing symptom relief (O) in patients with SLE (P) compared to existing traditional medicine(C). Methods: A literature search was performed using data sources such as Academic Search Ultimate, Google Scholar, and PubMed from November 2018 – April 2019. Seven articles were chosen for comparison in this study, 1 was chosen as gold standard for comparison. These articles were chosen based on publication date, outcome measurements, and treatment/intervention. Results: The results of this study demonstrated significant improvement in measures of disease activity. There were also significant improvements in the measures of symptoms in half of the studies, however, the gold standard was not able to be used as comparison since it did not measure symptomatic improvement. The studies demonstrated mild to no side effects experienced, compared to severe side effects experienced in the gold standard study. Discussion: The articles in this study demonstrated positive outcomes, however, they were limited by their geographic location studied and lack of long-term follow up. When comparing the CAM therapies to the gold standard, there was a better overall outcome as defined by the side effect profile, reduction in disease activity, and symptoms of disease. Despite evidence which demonstrates positive outcomes of CAM therapies, at this time CAM therapies can only be recommended as an adjunct therapy with the patient’s current medication to further reduce disease activity and provide symptomatic relief, rather than use as monotherapy