Lupus is thought to develop when your body's immune system mistakenly attacks the body's own tissues rather than protecting them from outside invaders. Immune proteins called autoantibodies attack many different parts of the body, causing inflammation and tissue damage in many parts of the body, including the joints, skin, kidney, nervous system (brain, spinal cord and nerves), blood, heart, lungs, digestive system and eyes. Autoantibodies also can attach themselves to body chemicals, forming abnormal molecules called immune complexes that trigger additional inflammation and injury when they are deposited in various organs and tissues.
The exact cause of lupus remains a mystery, although scientists are investigating many different possibilities and believe several factors may play a role in the development of the disease. Since 90% of all lupus patients are women, usually of childbearing age, researchers think hormones may be involved. Lupus tends to run in families, so genetic factors may play a role. There is some evidence that the illness may be more common in people of African, Native American, West Indian and Chinese descent. Some researchers think lupus may be triggered by a virus or another type of infection in people who are genetically susceptible to the disease.
Lupus is relatively rare, affecting less than 1 in 2,000 people. The scientific name of the disease is systemic lupus erythematosus, or SLE.
In some people, lupus causes only mild illness, but in others it leads to potentially deadly complications. Symptoms tend to come and go. Periods of intensified symptoms are called flares and periods when symptoms disappear are called remissions. Flares can be triggered by many different factors, including sun exposure, infection, medication and possibly pregnancy, but often they occur for no apparent reason.
Lupus has the potential to affect many different parts of the body, so it can cause a wide range of symptoms including:
Other possible symptoms of lupus include:
Some people develop a form of lupus that involves only the skin, called cutaneous lupus or discoid lupus erythematosus. Another form of lupus follows exposure to certain drugs (drug-induced lupus) including procainamide and hydralazine. While drug-induced lupus may cause rash, arthritis and fever that appear similar to the systemic form of lupus, it tends to be milder.
Your doctor will begin by reviewing your symptoms, your medical history and your exposure to factors that can trigger lupus flares. Next, he or she will examine you, looking for skin rashes on your face or on sun-exposed skin, tenderness or swelling of the joints and ulcers inside your mouth or nose. Your doctor will listen to your heart and lungs with a stethoscope, checking for signs of inflammation of the membrane covering the heart (pericarditis) or inflammation of the membranes covering the lungs (pleuritis).
If your doctor suspects you have lupus, he or she will order a blood test to look for a type of antibody, called the antinuclear antibody (ANA), that almost all people with lupus have in their blood. However, since the ANA test can sometimes be positive in people who do not have lupus, your doctor may order follow-up blood tests to look for other types of antibodies. Lupus cannot be diagnosed only on the basis of the ANA test.
Your doctor may evaluate your condition using the criteria established by the American College of Rheumatology. Your doctor may diagnose lupus even if you don't meet all of these criteria, which were developed for research studies. If you have had 4 of the 11 lupus criteria at some time during your illness, even if fewer than four are active at the time of diagnosis, the diagnosis is more certain and you may be eligible for entry into a research study of lupus.
The lupus criteria include the following:
Other tests that may be done to help diagnose lupus include:
Lupus is a long-lasting (chronic) condition, although there may be periods in which the illness is relatively inactive or even completely quiet.
Since doctors haven't determined the cause of lupus, there's no way to prevent it. You may be able to prevent flare-ups of the illness by avoiding exposure to the sun as much as possible and using sunscreen when you are in the sun.
Lupus may be treated with several different types of medication, including:
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin and other brand names) or naproxen (Aleve, Naprosyn and others)
Antimalarials, such as hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil), chloroquine (Aralen), or quinacrine. Recent studies suggest that lupus patients treated with antimalarial medications have less active disease and less organ damage over time. Therefore, many experts now recommend antimalarial treatment for all patients with systemic lupus unless they cannot tolerate the medication.
Corticosteroids, such as prednisone (Deltasone and others), hydrocortisone, methylprednisolone (Medrol and others), or dexamethasone (Decadron and others)
Immunosuppressives, such as azathioprine (Imuran), cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan, Neosar), mycophenolate mofetil (CellCept), or belimumab (Benlysta)
Methotrexate (Rheumatrex, Folex, Methotrexate LPF)
Call your doctor if you have any of the symptoms of lupus, especially if you develop skin symptoms (malar or discoid rash, photosensitivity, ulcers in your mouth or nose), together with fatigue, fever, joint pain, poor appetite and weight loss.
Most people with lupus have a normal life span. However, life expectancy and quality of life vary widely depending on severity of illness. Cardiovascular disease, including heart attack, is more common among people with lupus. The presence of cardiovascular disease worsens prognosis. The outlook is also worse if the disease has seriously affected the kidneys or brain, or has caused a low platelet count.
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
Information Clearinghouse
National Institutes of Health
1 AMS Circle
Bethesda, MD 20892-3675
Phone: 301-495-4484
Toll-Free: 1-877-226-4267
TTY: 301-565-2966
Lupus Foundation of America
2000 L St., N.W.
Suite 710
Washington, D.C. 20036
Phone: 202-349-1155
Toll-Free: 1-800-558-0121
American College of Rheumatology
2200 Lake Boulevard NE
Atlanta, GA 30319
Phone: 404-633-3777
Fax: 404-633-1870
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