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. Research suggests that genes play an important role, but genes alone do not determine who gets lupus. 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 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
Cardiologists—doctors who treat heart and blood vessel problems
Endocrinologists—doctors who treat problems related to the glands and hormones
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
Help the immune system
Reduce or prevent damage to joints
Balance the hormones.
In addition to medications for lupus itself, sometimes other medications are needed for problems related to lupus such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or infection. 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.

What Can I Do?

It is vital that you take an active role in your treatment. One key to living with lupus is to know about the disease and its impact. Being able to spot the warning signs of a flare can help you prevent the flare or make the symptoms less severe. Many people with lupus have certain symptoms just before a flare, such as:

Feeling more tired
Pain
Rash
Fever
Stomach ache
Headache
Dizziness.
You should see your doctor often, even when symptoms are not severe. These visits will help you and your doctor to:

Look for changes in symptoms
Predict and prevent flares
Change the treatment plan as needed
Detect side effects of treatment.
It is also important to find ways to cope with the stress of having lupus. Exercising and finding ways to relax may make it easier for you to cope. A good support system can also help. A support system may include family, friends, community groups, or doctors. Many people with lupus have found support groups to be very useful. Besides providing support, taking part in a support group can make you feel better about yourself and help you to keep a good outlook.

Learning more about lupus is very important. Studies have shown that patients who are informed and involved in their own care:

Have less pain
Make fewer visits to the doctor
Feel better about themselves
Remain more active.