| "NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Heart function is impaired in young women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), investigators report, and this may be related to the strikingly high rates of cardiovascular disease seen in this population." "SLE is a chronic autoimmune disease in which the immune system can confuse healthy and foreign tissues and sometimes attacks both. The disorder disproportionately affects women." "The incidence of heart attacks in young women with SLE has been shown to be 50 times that in healthy women, senior investigator Dr. Chim C. Lang told Reuters Health. "Therefore, there is an urgent need for research to better understand the cause of the accelerated atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) in these young patients."" "Lang, of Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Dundee, UK and colleagues studied heart function in 18 women with SLE and 19 matched controls. The average age of the women was 29.4 years. " ""Coronary flow reserve," which reflects how much blood flow can speed up when demands are put on the heart, and paints a picture of the healthiness of the coronary circulation, was much lower in the lupus patients than in the controls. The difference was highly significant. " "These findings, say the investigators, provide evidence that heart function is impaired in patients with SLE and support
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