Discoveries in immune regulation are magical ‘ma’ toward lupus cure

Once you receive a diagnosis of lupus, it is difficult to avoid its chronic impact. The disease stays on your mind and affects your perceptions and decisions. You may not be in a flare or “suffering,” but you are often still experiencing multiple, full-body symptoms.

When these symptoms are minimal, that is, a 6 on the pain scale, it can feel like a pause.

Hayao Miyazaki, the creator of my favorite Japanese animated film, “Kiki’s Delivery Service,” places empty spaces called “ma” into his films. A deliberate pause between the action, Miyazaki’s ma is a creative element that brings stillness and balance to his films, and serves as an intentional placeholder that allows the audience to reflect and interpret what’s happening visually and emotionally. This pause has been likened to Miyazaki telling his audience that “something magical goes here.”

Ma occurs with lupus, too. Our ma happens every time relief inches its way through the everyday pain and fatigue of an overworked immune system that is constantly on the brink of a flare. In those brief moments — maybe even hours — of reduced lupus symptoms, ma occurs. Stillness. Tranquility. Balance. And something magical can fill that gap.

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When you can recognize that moment, celebrate and reflect. We can scan our bodies and feel physically and emotionally the less-ness of lupus. We can say, “I’m not hurting,” whenever that reality happens and be open to feeling more comfort. Yes, that pause may only be a placeholder. Yes, that placeholder can soon be replaced by lupus building into a flare. But that pause can show us the magic of that moment, no matter how brief it is.

Having lupus is not a magical experience, but the practice of celebrating when life brings you a pause can be a wellness strategy.

This week, three scientists, Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi, won the 2025 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for their research in peripheral immune tolerance, or how the immune system is kept “under control so we can fight all imaginable microbes and still avoid autoimmune disease.” The scientists uncovered how self-reactive T-cells can become harmful and cause autoimmune diseases like lupus, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and rheumatoid arthritis, and asked what our bodies can do to solve this problem and control them.

That space between the scientists’ questions and a cure for lupus is also a massive ma, and one that says something magical goes here, if you ask me. I hope, amid their work on CD25 cells, the FOXP3 gene, and regulatory T-cells, that moment of pause leads to a day when lupus and all dangerous autoimmune diseases are eliminated for all time.

Then we all will celebrate because some magic has happened.

Note: Lupus News Today is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of Lupus News Today or its parent company, Bionews, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to lupus.