This article serves to explain an awful lot

[CatWoman]

Did you know that Michael Jackson, was the victim of a rare auto-immune disease called lupus? Yes, he was according to his Wikipedia biography and as it turns out -- lupus sufferers frequently die in their 40s and 50's from sudden heart attacks, caused by atherosclerosis. Let me explain.

Lupus causes inflammation in many of the body's organs including the arteries of the heart. The inflamed arteries then cause cholesterol to deposit on their walls.These deposits cause scarring, and the whole process primes lupus victims to have massive heart attacks, which are often asymptomatic beforehand.

Mild lupus sufferers, like Jackson, are actually more at risk for having a fatal heart attack, according to Dr Michael Lockshin, a rheumatologist at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. The reason for this is because people who have a mild case of lupus are less likely to take any of the medications which would prevent inflammation of the organs.

Now if you don't believe that Jackson had lupus consider this: vitiligo, which Jackson also suffered from, resulting in the famous pigment loss in his skin, is also an auto-immune disease. Coincidentally, vitiligo and lupus are often diagnosed in the same person, explains Dr. Lockshin. In other words, it would not have been unusual for Michael Jackson to have suffered from both ailments.

Here's another key fact: African-Americans are four times more like to be lupus victims than Caucasians. However, lupus is far more common in women than men. Still men, do get it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bonnie-fuller/the-real-reason-for-micha_b_221825.html

[monmouth]

1. I noticed in a recent photo of Joe he showed signs of vitiligo on

his nose and under his eyes. Just something I noticed.

[Sanity Claws]

2. Lupus is far from rare

Over the years, I have known four friends with it.

[spanone]

3. lupus isn't near as sexy as drug addiction and doctors shooting you up 24/7

thanks cw

[petronius]

4. That's interesting - I'd forgotten about the vitiligo

I didn't know lupus was that much more prevalent in African-Americans. It makes me wonder if the "four times" number is actually an underestimation, since it seems like it might be an easy disease to miss, and minority populations seem to have higher rates of deficient healthcare for one reason or another...

WRT to Jackson, it might help explain a few things if he really did 'know' that he was going to die young.

[Recursion]

5. But House says it's never lupus! NT

[rucky]

7. Then it's Cushings

that explains the crotch grabbing, the erratic behavior, the high-pitched tone, the disfiguration

[Recursion]

8. Perfect pitch, elfin features...

I forget which disease that is.

[noiretextatique]

6. i knew about the vitiligo

but i only heard about the lupus since he died. makes sense.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

9. Yes, he had it -

in fact, in an article in Vanity Fair, published a few years ago, once of his little boys told an investigator that Jacko's testicles "looked like a cow."

http://www.vanityfair.com/fame/features/2003/04/orth200304

(None of the articles ever written about Jacko for Vanity Fair were ever subjects of litigation, truth being the perfect defense.)

That sounds like some kind of vitiligo, at the very least, but his dysmorphic body disorder was the illness that caused him to mutilate himself.

Autoimmune diseases can be treated by rheumatologists. Dysmorphic body disorder requires psychiatric treatment, and the patient can be helped.

It's all so sad, but Jacko was a very sick man who probably had really good health insurance, and could have gotten any kind of treatment he wanted, but he wanted to do it his way. So he became a druggie.............................

[CatWoman]

11. is there a thread that you "WON'T" piss in???

by the way -- I've never fucked my daughter, my brothers or my sisters, but I'd venture they can describe my tits to a tee.

[xiamiam]

12. well, at least i can identify some of them and know what to expect ..nt

[Tangerine LaBamba]

13. Really?

How many children of strangers could identify your tits? Or your ass? Or any private parts? Small kids - under 12, let's say - who are the children of people you just met.

How many? Lots of them?

[BrklynLiberal]

10. This video shows some very clear pictures of the vitiligo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjEtpBgeAw0