Annie et la mer, 2025, Huile sur toile, 58x72”
Annie (Elle/iel) Maladie de Hashimoto, Lupus induit par anti-TNF, Maladie de l'alpha-1 antitrypsine
Des souvenirs de flotter dans l’océan. L’eau est fraîche, salée, vive. Je plonge comme un phoque, regardant le soleil à travers l’eau. Je plonge où c’est peu profond, les mains dans le sable.
Annaliese vit avec un lupus érythémateux disséminé (LED) induit par des médicaments. Les maladies auto-immunes peuvent entraîner un « brouillard cérébral », soit une altération de l’attention, de la mémoire, du traitement de l’information et des fonctions exécutives, souvent accompagnée de fatigue et de troubles de l’humeur.
Ce phénomène est fréquent dans le LED, la sclérose en plaques, l’encéphalite auto-immune, la thyroïdite auto-immune et les syndromes post-viraux. Ses causes sont multiples, incluant une atteinte neuronale immunitaire, une neuro-inflammation et l’action des cytokines.
Comme bien d’autres maladies auto-immunes, le LED touche majoritairement les femmes, ainsi que les populations afro-américaines, hispaniques et asiatiques.
Cognitive Disorders in Patients With Neuroimmunological Disease. Restrepo-Martinez M, Bell V, Ramirez-Bermudez J. Current Opinion in Psychiatry. 2025;38(2):126-133. doi:10.1097/YCO.0000000000000977.
Mackay M. Lupus brain fog: a biologic perspective on cognitive impairment, depression, and fatigue in systemic lupus erythematosus. Immunol Res. 2015 Dec;63(1-3):26-37. doi: 10.1007/s12026-015-8716-3. PMID: 26481913.
Leyhe T, Müssig K. Cognitive and affective dysfunctions in autoimmune thyroiditis. Brain Behav Immun. 2014 Oct;41:261-6. doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2014.03.008. Epub 2014 Mar 29. PMID: 24685840.
Denno P, Zhao S, Husain M, Hampshire A. Defining brain fog across medical conditions. Trends Neurosci. 2025 May;48(5):330-348. doi: 10.1016/j.tins.2025.01.003. Epub 2025 Feb 25. PMID: 40011078.
Annie and the Sea, 2025, Oil on Canvas, 58x72”
Annie (She/they) Hashimoto’s, Anti-TNF-induced Lupus, Alpha-1 antitrypsin syndrome
A mashup of memories of floating in the ocean. The water feels cool, salty, fresh. Diving under like a seal and looking up at the sun through the water. Diving in the shallow part so I can put my hands in the sand.
Annie lives with drug induced systemic lupus erythematosus. Autoimmune diseases can cause something patients colloquially call “autoimmune brain fog”. This refers to a constellation of symptoms such as impaired attention, memory issues, slower processing and executive functions, often accompanied by fatigue and mood disturbances.
Diseases where this occurs most often are systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), multiple sclerosis (MS), autoimmune encephalitis, autoimmune thyroiditis and post-viral autoimmune syndromes. This is a multifactorial process, but proposed etiologies to this “brain fog” phenomena in the current literature are direct immune mediated neuronal injury, neuro-inflammation and cytokine-mediated effects.
SLE, like many other immune diseases, has a much higher prevalence in women as well as in African American, Hispanic and Asian populations.
Cognitive Disorders in Patients With Neuroimmunological Disease. Restrepo-Martinez M, Bell V, Ramirez-Bermudez J. Current Opinion in Psychiatry. 2025;38(2):126-133. doi:10.1097/YCO.0000000000000977.
Mackay M. Lupus brain fog: a biologic perspective on cognitive impairment, depression, and fatigue in systemic lupus erythematosus. Immunol Res. 2015 Dec;63(1-3):26-37. doi: 10.1007/s12026-015-8716-3. PMID: 26481913.
Leyhe T, Müssig K. Cognitive and affective dysfunctions in autoimmune thyroiditis. Brain Behav Immun. 2014 Oct;41:261-6. doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2014.03.008. Epub 2014 Mar 29. PMID: 24685840.
Denno P, Zhao S, Husain M, Hampshire A. Defining brain fog across medical conditions. Trends Neurosci. 2025 May;48(5):330-348. doi: 10.1016/j.tins.2025.01.003. Epub 2025 Feb 25. PMID: 40011078.
