Lupus – an autoimmune disease that causes inflammation and pain in any part of your body due to which your immune system mistakenly attacks your healthy & bad tissues. It can affect ANY tissue, organ or system and commonly involves the kidneys, brain, heart, joints, skin, and blood.
Types of Lupus
- Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) – the most common & is inflammation of multiple organs or systems in the body
- Cutaneous Lupus – is limited to the skin
- Drug-Induced Lupus – caused by certain prescription drugs
- Neonatal Lupus – (rare) occurs only in newborns/infants
About Lupus
Here are a few details about Lupus to help you better understand this autoimmune disease:
- 9 in 10 cases of Lupus are women and commonly between 15-45 years old.
- There are many factors that typically represent someone diagnosed with Lupus: genetics, hormone regulation, environmental, and association with Epstein-Barr Virus
- Other autoimmune disease associations: Antiphospholipid Syndrome (APS), Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and Sjögren’s Syndrome
- A diagnosis can be difficult to determine as it mimics other diseases and is known as “The Great Imitator”.
- This is some BASIC information, but it all must be INDIVIDUALIZED in the clinical practice. ALL LUPUS PATIENTS ARE DIFFERENT.
Lupus Symptoms & Complications
- Systemic: malaise, fatigue, weight loss, unexplained fever
- Neurological: strokes, mood disorders, headaches, cognitive dysfunction (decline in attention, memory, etc)
- Cardiopulmonary: chest pain caused by pleuritis, pericarditis, serositis, myocarditis; pulmonary hypertension
- Cutaneous: alopecia, rash, malar erythema (butterfly rash – nose and cheeks), discoid rash, photosensitivity, oral ulcers
- Blood disorders: thrombocytopenia (easy bruising), thrombosis, anemia, splenomegaly
- Musculoskeletal: achy, swollen joints (arthritis), myalgias, myopathy
Renal: inflammation of kidneys — Lupus Nephritis
- 60% of lupus patients will develop this complication, including children
- immune system attacks kidneys and leads to inflammation to possibly irreversible kidney damage & failure
- Dialysis
- Kidney transplant
Signs, Symptoms, & Complications
- Swelling (feet, ankles, and/or legs)
- Weight gain
- Foamy or frothy urine
- Frequent urination
- High levels of protein in urine
- Blood in urine (Hematuria)
- Slow rate of blood filtration — glomerular filtration rate (GFR)
- Increased in creatine
- Cardiovascular complications
- Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD)
- Scarring of kidneys
- Kidney failure (ESKD or ESRD)
Ask Questions about Lupus
JASMIN
ABOUT | Jasmin is an advocate for SLE Lupus & Lupus Nephritis, and is the creator of The Lupie Butterfly where she creates content about everything Lupus & her daily life. She has been living with Lupus since 2010. Her passions are her Christian faith, writing, and helping others.“Being Filipino-American living with Lupus can have its struggles, but knowing that I can advocate for my nationality & those living with Lupus as well, truly means the world to me!” XOXO Jasmin
AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES | SLE Lupus and Lupus Nephritis
