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Lupus is a chronic inflammatory disease that can affect various parts of the body, especially the skin, joints, and kidneys. The body's immune system makes proteins called antibodies to protect itself from bacteria, viruses, and other foreign material. The body recognizes these foreign particles called antigens. Lupus is an autoimmune disorder, so the body loses its ability to tell the difference between foreign material (antigens) and its own cells and tissues. The body's immune system then makes antibodies against itself. The term used to describe these antibodies is "auto-antibodies." The antibodies and antigens combine to form immune complexes and overtime build up in the tissues and cause inflammation, pain, and injury to tissues. Lupus, for most people, is a mild disease that usually affects only a few a organs. Others may experience more serious or life-threatening problems. More than 16,000 Americans develop lupus each year. Also in the United States, it is estimated that 500,000 to 1.5 million people have been diagnosed with lupus.
Lupus has three different types of dis
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ease associated with it, including: discoid, systemic, and drug-induced. Discoid lupus is a rash that is limited to the skin. It may appear on the face, neck, or scalp. In order to diagnose correctly, a biopsy of the rash is taken looking for abnormalities not found in normal skin. About 10% of patients with discoid lupus may develop the systemic form of lupus, which can affect almost any organ in the body. There is no test to predict or way to prevent this from occurring. Systemic lupus is usually more severe because it involves internal organs or organ systems. For some, the disease is limited to the skin and joints. While others have their joints, lungs, kidneys, blood, and/or other organ/tissues that may be affected. Lupus is a very individualized disease in that no two people with systemic lupus will have identical symptoms. Systemic lupus may have periods when symptoms are not present or severe termed "remission," at other times the disease may become more active and is termed "flared." When people speak of lupus, most often they are referring to the systemic form of the disease. Drug-induced lupus occurs after the used of certain pre
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scription drugs. The symptoms are similar to systemic lupus for drug-induced lupus. The two most common causes of drug-induced lupus are hydralazine which is used to treat high blood pressure and procainamide which is used to treat irregular heart rhythms. Only about 4% of people taking these drugs will develop antibodies suggestive of lupus and of those people, very few will develop drug-induced lupus. However, the symptoms usually go away when the medication has been discontinued.
The exact cause or causes of lupus are unknown. Scientists believe that it is likely the result of a genetic predisposition and environmental factors. Some environmental factors are known to trigger lupus such as: infections, antibiotics (sulfa and penicillin groups), ultraviolet light, extreme stress, certain drugs, and hormones.
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