Lupus Do you or someone you know have signs of lupus? More than 16,000 people in the United States develop lupus each year. About 500,000 to 1.5 million have already been diagnosed with lupus. Lupus is a serious health problem that affects mainly young women. In fact, it is 10 to 15 times more common in women than in men. The disease often starts between the ages of 15 and 44. People of all races may get lupus. However, lupus is three times more common in African American women than in Caucasian women. As many as 1 in 250 young African American women will get the disease. What is lupus? Lupus is an autoimmune disease that can affect many parts of the body. It can affect blood, joints, skin, kidneys, lungs, the heart, or the brain. Only a few of these parts of the body are affected in most people.
English: Systemic lupus erythematosus, Butterfly r...
English: Common signs and symptoms of systemic lup...
Clearance deficiency in SLESomething goes wrong with the body's immune system in lupus. Think of the immune system as an army within the body with hundreds of defenders (known as antibodies).They defend the body from attack by germs and viruses. In lupus, however, the immune system becomes overactive and goes out of control. The antibodies attack healthy tissues in the body. This attack induces inflammation, causing redness, pain, and swelling in the affected parts of the body. This tendency for the immune system to become overactive may run in families. What does a person with lupus look like? Many people with lupus look healthy. What are the signs of lupus? The signs of lupus differ from one person to another. Some people have just a few signs of the disease; others have more. Lupus may be hard to diagnose. It is often mistaken for other diseases. For this reason, lupus has often been...