General Information about 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.

Causes of Lupus

The cause(s) of lupus is unknown, but there are environmental and genetic factors involved. While scientists believe there is a genetic predisposition to the disease, it is known that environmental factors also play a critical role in triggering lupus. Some of the environmental factors that may trigger the disease are: infections, antibiotics (especially those in the sulfa and penicillin groups), ultraviolet light, extreme stress, certain drugs, and hormones.

Although lupus is known to occur within families, there is no known gene or genes which are thought to cause the illness. There are recent discoveries of a gene on chromosome 1 which is associated with lupus in certain families. Previously, genes on chromosome 6 called "immune response genes" were also associated with the disease. Only 10 percent of lupus patients will have a close relative (parent or sibling) who already has or may develop lupus. Statistics show that only about 5% of the children born to individuals with lupus will develop the illness. Lupus is often called a "woman's disease" despite the fact that many men are affected.

Lupus can occur at any age, and in either sex, although it occurs 10-15 times more frequently among adult females than among adult males after puberty or after the emergence into sexual maturity. The symptoms of the disease are the same in men and women. People of African, American Indian, and Asian origin are thought to develop the disease more frequently than Caucasian women. The reasons for this ethnic selection are not clear. Hormonal factors may explain why lupus occurs more frequently in females than in males. The increase of disease symptoms before menstrual periods and/or during pregnancy support the belief that hormones, particularly estrogen, may somewhat regulate the way the disease progresses. However, the exact reason for the greater prevalence of lupus in women, and the cyclic increase in symptoms, is unknown.

Diagnosing Lupus

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).

Treatment of Lupus

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
• Social workers

Your doctor will develop a treatment plan to fit your needs. You and your doctor should review the plan often to be sure it is working. You should report new symptoms to your doctor right away so that treatment can be changed if needed.

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 joints

Alternative treatments are those that are not part of standard treatment. No research shows that this kind of treatment works for people with lupus. You should talk to your doctor about alternative treatments.