| Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE, or lupus) is an ongoing (chronic) inflammatory connective tissue disease in which the body's immune system malfunctions and attacks healthy tissue. SLE is a serious and potentially fatal condition that can inflame and damage the skin, joints, kidneys, heart, lungs, brain, nervous system, and mucous membranes and cause various associated symptoms. It is characterized by periods when symptoms lessen or disappear without a known cause (spontaneous remissions) and periods when symptoms return or flare (relapses).
The number and variety of antibodies that appear in lupus determine what symptoms will develop, although the level of antibodies is not always proportional to an individual's symptoms.
Individuals using certain medications may develop a lupus-like syndrome. The drugs most frequently responsible are those used to treat high blood pressure (antihypertensives), irregular heart rhythms (cardiac depressants), and tuberculosis (tuberculostatics). Symptoms of drug-induced lupus are generally milder and fade when the drug is discontinued.
The cause of lupus is not known.Risk: Risk factors include sex, race, heredity, and exposure to certain medications or viruses. Sex hormones appear to play some role because most cases develop during the childbearing years. In the US, black women appear to be at increased risk. Family members of affected individuals may also be at increased risk. Approximately 90% of individuals with SLE are young women in their late teens to 30s, but the disease can also affect children (primarily girls), older women, and men (Schumacher 378). Drug-induced lupus affects men and women equally. Incidence and Prevalence: On average, about 1 in 10,000 people in the US get lupus every year (Hildebrand). More people have lupus than AIDS, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, sickle cell anemia, and cystic fibrosis combined (Batiste). The condition is considered more common in China, in Southeast Asia, and among blacks in the Caribbean. |
Source: Medical Disability Advisor