What Is Lupus

What Is Lupus?

The immune system is designed to attack foreign substances in the body. If you have lupus, something goes wrong with your immune system and it attacks healthy cells and tissues. This can damage many parts of the body such as the:

* Joints
* Skin
* Kidneys
* Heart
* Lungs
* Blood vessels
* Brain.

There are many kinds of lupus. The most common type, systemic lupus erythematosus, affects many parts of the body. Other types of lupus are:

* Discoid lupus erythematosus: causes a skin rash that doesn't go away
* Subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus: causes skin sores on parts of the body exposed to sun
* Drug-induced lupus: can be caused by medications
* Neonatal lupus: a rare type of lupus that affects newborns.

Who Gets Lupus?

Anyone can get lupus, but it most often affects women. Lupus is also more common in women of African American, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American descent than in Caucasian women.

What Causes Lupus?

The cause of lupus is not known. It is likely that many factors trigger the disease.

What Are the Symptoms of Lupus?

Symptoms of lupus vary, but some of the most common symptoms of lupus are:

* Pain or swelling in joints
* Muscle pain
* Fever with no known cause
* Red rashes, most often on the face
* Chest pain when taking a deep breath
* Hair loss
* Pale or purple fingers or toes
* Sensitivity to the sun
* Swelling in legs or around eyes
* Mouth ulcers
* Swollen glands
* Feeling very tired.

Less common symptoms include:

* Anemia (a decrease in red blood cells)
* Headaches
* Dizzy spells
* Feeling sad
* Confusion
* Seizures.

Symptoms may come and go. The times when a person is having symptoms are called flares, which can range from mild to severe. New symptoms may appear at any time.

How Is Lupus Diagnosed?

There is no single test to diagnose lupus. It may take months or years for a doctor to diagnose lupus. Your doctor may use many tools to make a diagnosis:

* Medical history
* Complete exam
* Blood tests
* Skin biopsy (looking at skin samples under a microscope
* Kidney biopsy (looking at tissue from your kidney under a microscope).

How Is Lupus Diagnosed?

There is no single test to diagnose lupus. It may take months or years for a doctor to diagnose lupus. Your doctor may use many tools to make a diagnosis:

* Medical history
* Complete exam
* Blood tests
* Skin biopsy (looking at skin samples under a microscope
* Kidney biopsy (looking at tissue from your kidney under a microscope).

How Is Lupus Treated?

You may need special kinds of doctors to treat the many symptoms of lupus. Your health care team may include:

* A family doctor
* Rheumatologists doctors who treat arthritis and other diseases that cause swelling in the joints
* Clinical immunologists doctors who treat immune system disorders
* Nephrologists doctors who treat kidney disease
* Hematologists doctors who treat blood disorders
* Dermatologists doctors who treat skin diseases
* Neurologists doctors who treat problems with the nervous system
* Nurses
* Psychologists


The goals of the treatment plan are to:

* Prevent flares
* Treat flares when they occur
* Reduce organ damage and other problems.

Treatments may include drugs to:

* Reduce swelling and pain
* Prevent or reduce flares
* Calm the immune system
* Reduce or prevent damage to joint