Lupus

Alternative Names

Lupus, Systemic lupus erythematosus

What is Lupus

Lupus is an inflammatory disease that appears when your body's immune system attacks your own tissues and organs. Inflammation due to lupus affects your joints, skin, kidneys, blood cells, brain, heart and lungs.

Some people are exposed to lupus caused by different infections, certain drugs or even sunlight.

Signs and symptoms

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

Symptoms of lupus may disappear on its own. The times when a person experience symptoms are called flares which can range from mild to severe. New symptoms can occur at any time.

Possible complications

In some cases, people suffering from lupus have abnormal deposits in the kidney cells that lead to lupus nephritis. People with this condition can develop kidney failure and need dialysis or a kidney transplant.

Lupus can damage to different parts of the body such as:

• Blood clots in the legs (deep vein thrombosis) or lungs (pulmonary embolism)
• Destruction of red blood cells (hemolytic anemia) or anemia of chronic disease
• Fluid around the heart (pericarditis), endocarditis, or inflammation of the heart (myocarditis)
• Fluid around the lungs (pleural effusions) and damage to lung tissue
• Pregnancy complications, including miscarriage
• Stroke
• Severely low blood platelets (thrombocytopenia)
• Inflammation of the blood vessels

What causes

The exact cause of lupus is unknown. Scientists suppose that the possible cause of lupus is an abnormal reaction of your body's immune system. Lupus can also be caused by a combination of your genetics and your environment. People who have an inherited predisposition for lupus may develop this disease when they contact with something in the environment that can cause lupus. Other possible causes of lupus include:

• Sunlight. It can lead to skin lesions or cause an internal response in susceptible people.
• Medications. Lupus can be caused by certain types of anti-seizure medications, blood pressure medications and antibiotics.

Prevention

Unfortunately, there is no effective way to prevent lupus. People who smoke have a high risk to develop this disease. It is recommended to avoid smoking and other tobacco products in order to prevent lupus.

Treatment

There is a row of medicines which are commonly used in the treatment of lupus:

• Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Naproxen (Aleve) and ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, others) work to relieve pain, swelling and fever due to lupus.
• Antimalarial drugs such as hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil) are used to control lupus. The possible side effects are stomach upset and, very rarely and damage to the retina of the eye.
• Corticosteroids such as Prednisone can reduce the inflammation of lupus, but often can cause long-term side effects —weight gain, easy bruising, thinning bones (osteoporosis), high blood pressure, diabetes and increased risk of infection.
• Immune suppressants (cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan), azathioprine (Imuran, Azasan), mycophenolate (Cellcept), leflunomide (Arava) and methotrexate (Trexall)).