Lupus

Symptoms and treatment for lupus

What is lupus? Lupus is an autoimmune disease, like rheumatoid arthritis, in which the body’s immune systems sees the tissues, joints or organs as a threat and begins attacking them. This causes inflammation in the attacked areas. Lupus disease can cause inflammation anywhere in the body, including the vital organs.

Lupus Symptoms

Because lupus is a chronic inflammatory disease that can affect almost any part of the body, the symptoms will vary depending on which part of the body is affected. However, there are some general symptoms that occur with most cases. These include fever, weight changes, fatigue and chronic tiredness, joint pain and swelling, stiffness, sores on the skin and in the mouth, difficulty breathing, chest pains, dry eyes, coldness and blueness in the fingers and toes, depression, anxiety, bruising, difficulty remembering things and cold sensitivity.

One of the most common symptoms of lupus is also a malar rash on the face. A malar rash is shaped like a butterfly and covers the bridge of the nose and spreads out to the cheeks.

Like other autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, there is no direct known cause of lupus. No one can predict who will develop the disease or how severe a lupus sufferer’s symptoms will be. The body essentially sees vital organs and systems as intruders, and can cause serious and life threatening swelling and damage when it attacks these systems.

Lupus puts vital organs and body systems, including the joints, skin, heart, brain, blood vessels, lungs and kidney. At one time, lupus sufferers did not live long with the disease and there was little hope, as most people with lupus became disabled and died relatively young. But today, though there is no cure for autoimmune diseases, medications and therapies can help people with lupus live normal lives.

Four Types of Lupus

There are four distinct types of lupus. Systemic lupus is the most common form, and is the form that can affect any area of the body. Discoid lupus affects the skin, and can be a precursor for systemic lupus. Drug-induced lupus occurs as a reaction to a medication, and goes away after the medication is stopped. Finally, neonatal lupus affects newborns and usually lasts about six months.