Lupus: Signs & Symptoms

1. What is lupus and how does it affect the body?

“Lupus,”  short for Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune condition in which ones’ immune system mistakenly attacks its own healthy tissue causing widespread inflammation and organ damage.

2. What are the early signs and symptoms of lupus?

Lupus is a highly variable disease and different individuals can have different manifestations. Generally, patients present with symptoms such as unexplained weight loss, hair loss, facial rash - often referred to as the "butterfly rash", ulcers in the mouth or nose, inflammation of the lining of the lung (pleuritis) or heart (pericarditis), kidney failure and nerve damage.

3. Who is at risk?

More than 90% of those diagnosed with lupus are women in their reproductive years, between 15 to 50 years of age. It is more common in people of African American, Hispanic, Asian and Native American descent.

4. How is lupus diagnosed?

The diagnosis of lupus requires a combination of symptoms, physical findings, and confirmatory lab tests such as the anti-nuclear antibody test (ANA), a complete blood cell count and urinalysis.  Biopsy of the skin or kidney can sometimes be useful for diagnosis.

5. What conditions can be associated with lupus?

Lupus can be seen in isolation or coexist with other conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), Sjogren’s syndrome, and fibromyalgia.

6. What treatment is available?

Treatment of lupus is guided by the extent of disease, organ involvement and range of symptoms. Steroids are of the first line therapy because they are very effective at halting the disease quickly. Overtime, a variety of steroid sparing immunosuppressive medication such as methotrexate, mycophenalate mofetil, azathioprine, rituximab etc. are used. In recent years, several new agents have been introduced that help provide alternatives to the above treatment medications.