Yet Another Connection

“So the foot bone connected to the leg bone,
The leg bone connected to the knee bone,
The knee bone connected to the thigh bone.”

So goes the Skeleton Song Dance from Walt Disney’s 1929 Silly Symphony. But did you realize that your organs are connected too? Maybe not physically, but what happens to one organ affects the others. For example, this week a dear friend mentioned a condition I’d never heard of before. So, of course, I wanted to know if it affects the kidneys? Or was it if the kidneys affect this condition?

It’s called lichen planus. Do you know it? Here’s how Johns Hopkins defines the condition:

“Lichen planus is a common disease that causes inflammation (swelling and irritation) on your skin or inside your mouth. On your skin, lichen planus causes a rash that is usually itchy. Inside your mouth, it may cause burning or soreness.”

I get the feeling there are more symptoms. According to the Cleveland Clinic, there are:

“Lichen planus symptoms depend on where it’s affecting your body:

• Tiny, raised dots may develop on your skin, including your genitals. The dots are about the size of the tip of a pin (0.4 mm), and they may grow to the width of a pencil (1 cm). They may also develop into sores.
• Tiny white dots may develop on the skin inside of your cheeks, your tongue or your lips.
• Your nails may change colors, crack or split, stop growing or fall off.

Lichen planus doesn’t hurt. However, if you scratch your rash, you may break your skin, leading to an infection that can cause pain.”

That would explain why my friend had no idea she had this autoimmune disease. Wait a minute, what makes it an autoimmune disease? Maybe the American Institute of Healthcare Compliance can help us out here:

“The trigger of lichen planus is a hyperactive immune system. This condition occurs when the immune system begins to attack mucous membrane or skin cells which are not actually a threat to your body. This is an idiopathic condition, meaning there is no precisely known cause. However, medical professionals are aware of several conditions that may trigger it. “

“Trigger it”? I turned to eMedicineHealth to find out just what these triggers might be:

“Triggers for lichen planus may include: 

• Certain medications
  • Antimicrobials
  • Antihistamines (H2-blockers)
  • Antihypertensives/antiarrhythmics such as ACE inhibitors and beta-blockers
  • Antimalarial drugs
  • Antidepressants/antianxiety drugs/antipsychotics
  • Anticonvulsants
  • Diuretics
  • Antidiabetics
  • Metals
  • Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)
  • Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs)
  • Lipid lowering drugs
  • Tumor necrosis factor-alpha antagonists
  • Monoclonal antibodies 
• Metal dental fillings (oral lichen planus)
• Stress
• Infection, such as hepatitis C virus infection”

The one trigger that jumped out at me was mental dental fillings. My buddy and I are of an age when the only dental fillings available were metal. Could it really be that simple?

Something bothered me, though. It seemed to me that lichen planus was caused by too much of a good thing. The good thing was your immune system helped keep you healthy by fighting off foreign entities – like germs – in your body. A hyperactive immune system means it was working overtime and attacking parts of you that were necessary. Yep, too much of a good thing.

So, what do you do about lichen planus? By the way, my friend has the oral form. This is more prevalent in females and if there’s anything to be glad of about this disease it’s that it is most usually encountered in middle aged people. Hah! We are so far past middle age that it’s a compliment to be associated with anything middle aged…. or not.

Anyway, as to what you do about lichen planus, the answer is nothing. It usually disappears by itself within two years. I thought that weird and did my best to find out why. I drew a blank. So, let’s move on to what, if anything, this has to do with chronic kidney disease.

“OLP has been associated with numerous systemic connotations such as metabolic syndrome, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, thyroid diseases, psychosomatic ailments, chronic liver disease, gastrointestinal diseases, and genetic susceptibility to cancer.”

Thanks to the National Center for Biotechnology Information for the above, well, information.

Do you remember what metabolic syndrome is? Just in case, The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute explains:

“Metabolic syndrome is a group of conditions that together raise your risk of coronary heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and other serious health problems. Metabolic syndrome is also called insulin resistance syndrome.

You may have metabolic syndrome if you have three or more of the following conditions.

• A large waistline: This is also called abdominal obesity or ‘having an apple shape.’ Extra fat in your stomach area is a bigger risk factor for heart disease than extra fat in other parts of your body.
• High blood pressure: If your blood pressure rises and stays high for a long time, it can damage your heart and blood vessels. High blood pressure can also cause plaque, a waxy substance, to build up in your arteries. Plaque can cause heart and blood vessel diseases such as heart attack or stroke.
• High blood sugar: This can damage your blood vessels and raise your risk of getting blood clots. Blood clots can cause heart and blood vessel diseases.
• High blood triglycerides: Triglycerides are a type of fat found in your blood. High levels of triglycerides can raise your levels of LDL cholesterol, sometimes called bad cholesterol. This raises your risk of heart disease.
• Low HDL cholesterol, sometimes called good cholesterol: Blood cholesterol levels are important for heart health. ‘Good’ HDL cholesterol can help remove ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol from your blood vessels. ‘Bad’ LDL cholesterol can cause plaque buildup in your blood vessels.”

Knowing that diabetes and hypertension [high blood pressure] are the two leading causes of CKD, we can see the connection between lichen planus and CKD now. However, do not panic! This doesn’t mean you will definitely develop CKD.

Until next week,

Keep living your life!