Lupus autoimmune disease

abreusoleidy

@abreusoleidy · 16 Oct 2021

Lupus autoimmune disease

#autoimmunedisease

Lupus is a chronic and complex autoimmune disease that can affect the joints, skin, brain, lungs, kidneys, and blood vessels, causing widespread inflammation and tissue damage to the affected organs (CDC fact sheet). Below you will find some basic facts about the disease, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment.

What are the different types of lupus?
The most common type of lupus is called systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), which affects many parts of the body. The following are other types of lupus:

Cutaneous lupus: causes rashes or lesions on the skin, usually when exposed to sunlight.
Drug-induced lupus: similar to SLE, is caused by an overreaction to certain medications. Symptoms usually go away when the medication is stopped.
Neonatal lupus: occurs when an infant acquires autoantibodies from their mother with SLE (autoantibodies are immune proteins that mistakenly attack and damage the person's own tissues or organs). While skin, liver, and blood problems disappear within six months, the most serious problem, congenital heart block, requires the placement of a pacemaker (CDC's basic online fact sheet).

Although lupus can affect anyone, it is more common in women. In fact, nine out of ten adults with the disease are women. It is also more common in African-American, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American women than in Caucasian women.

People with SLE, the most common form of lupus, may have fatigue, joint pain or swelling, skin rashes, and fever at varying levels of severity.