Learning About Lupus

Lupus is an autoimmune disease that attacks different parts of the body, including skin, vital organs, bones and joints. When someone is suffering from Lupus, their immune system is unable to tell the difference between intrusive substances and its own tissues and cells. When this happens, the immune system basically attacks itself with anti-bodies, called "auto antibodies", which cause damage to the body. Inflammation, and severe pain also occurs.

There are currently four known types of Lupus,and each type is identified by different symptoms and diagnostics. First type is Discoid, or cutaneous, Lupus.
Discoid Lupus affects the skin and is characterized by a rash that appears on the face, neck, and scalp. A biopsy will determine abnormal findings that are not normally found in healthy skin cells. Discoid Lupus differs from other types of Lupus, as it does not ordinarily attack the vital organs. Only an estimated ten percent of patients with this form of Lupus develop Systemic Lupus, a more severe form. However, when this occurs, it is usually because the patient had Systemic Lupus all along, with the rash being a primary symptom in the beginning.
Systemic Lupus is usually more severe than Discoid Lupus, and can affect every organ in the body. Though some people only experience skin rash and irritation, others experience swelling and pain. There are also people who suffer variances of all of the symptoms. Basically, Lupus is a very unstable illness that affects everybody differently, making diagnosis difficult. Systemic Lupus can be a crippling disease, in which the severity can leave the patient incoherent during extreme bouts of pain, with few, sporadic phases of relief, when the symptoms seem to almost disappear at times.

Drug-induced Lupus is the result of using certain prescription drugs like high blood pressure medication, and drugs for hypertension and heart murmurs. This form of Lupus is not common, affecting only four percent of patients prescribed these medications. Symptoms are similar to Systemic Lupus, but ordinarily disappear when the patient ceases use of the medications.
The rarest form of lupus is known as Neonatal Lupus. It is passed to the fetus through auto-antibodies via the mother. The skin, heart, and blood of the fetus is affected, and lasts even after the child is born, however, usually goes away during the first six months of life.

The actual cause of Lupus is unknown, but scientists believe that there is a genetic link to the disease, considering it occurs in families. Recent discoveries have shown some clues within chromosome 1, but the information is limited, and Lupus is always so unpredictable in how it attacks, and who it attacks.
A common misconception is that lupus only affects women. The fact of the matter is, many men suffer from Lupus as well. It can attack any gender, and any age group. Symptoms are the same for either gender. Oddly, Caucasian women are less likely to be at risk for lupus, as opposed to other ethnicities, according to patterns and statistics. The ethnic inheritance to the disease is not understood.

Actual treatment of Lupus is as varied as the symptoms of the disease, but there are no actual treatments or cures prescribed for Lupus itself. The patient may be put on a preventative program to aide in the comfort of the sufferer. Generally, when someone is suffering from Lupus, there is not much help because there is truly not much known about the disease. When vital organs are in question, medications will be prescribed for those particular organs in question, and the patient is encouraged to get lots of rest, and try to maintain a stress free lifestyle.