What Is Lupus? - Lupus Foundation of America
Jul 31, 2020 · Lupus is a chronic (long-term) disease that can cause inflammation and pain in any part of your body. It’s an autoimmune disease, which means that your immune system — the body system that usually fights infections — attacks healthy tissue instead. Lupus most commonly affects your: Skin. Joints.
Help Us Solve The Cruel Mystery | Lupus Foundation of America
Our comprehensive approach goes beyond research grants to focus on three critical goals: identify the causes of lupus, discover better ways to control symptoms, and ultimately find pathways to a cure. Secured in federal research funding for lupus in the past five years. of driving achievement of lupus research milestones.
What is systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)? - Lupus Foundation …
Aug 23, 2024 · Neuropsychiatric lupus (NPSLE). This is also called “lupus with central nervous system (CNS) involvement.”. This means that a person’s lupus is causing symptoms that affect their brain, like headaches, trouble thinking, memory loss, seizures, or stroke. Experts are learning more about NPSLE, but they estimate that more than 1 in 5 people ...
Lupus Symptoms | Lupus Foundation of America
Jul 25, 2023 · Pain or swelling in the joints. Swelling in the hands, feet, or around the eyes. Headaches. Low fevers. Sensitivity to sunlight or fluorescent light. Chest pain when breathing deeply. Many people with lupus also have problems that affect their skin and hair, like: A butterfly-shaped rash on the cheeks and nose. Hair loss.
Medications used to treat lupus | Lupus Foundation of America
Aug 4, 2021 · Hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil) is a type of antimalarial medicine. Antimalarials work by reducing autoantibodies (proteins in the blood that attack healthy cells and tissues). Doctors use antimalarials to treat malaria, but these medicines can also treat lupus by: Reducing pain and inflammation. Preventing lupus flares and helping with lupus ...
Diagnosing lupus - Lupus Foundation of America
Apr 20, 2020 · Diagnosing lupus can be challenging. There’s no single test that can give doctors a “yes” or “no” answer. Sometimes it can take months—or even years—to gather all the right information. Making a lupus diagnosis is kind of like putting together a puzzle. Your doctor will look at several different puzzle pieces: your symptoms ...
Prognosis and life expectancy | Lupus Foundation of America
A common misperception about life expectancy. Some confusion about lupus life expectancy relates to the way research is communicated. Research that shows 80-90% of people with lupus live for more than 10 years is often misinterpreted as giving people with lupus only 10 years to live. It is important to understand that the "10 years" used in ...
Lab Tests for Lupus | Lupus Foundation of America
Nov 5, 2024 · Blood tests. Common blood tests for lupus include: Complete blood count (CBC) A CBC is a routine test that measures your levels of: Red blood cells, or hemoglobin, which carry oxygen through your body. White blood cells, which help the immune system protect the body. Platelets, which form in bone marrow and help the blood clot when it needs to.
How Lupus Affects The Skin | Lupus Foundation of America
Aug 26, 2021 · Subacute cutaneous lupus causes a red scaly rash or red ring-shaped sores. It usually happens on skin that gets sunlight, like the neck and arms. Acute cutaneous lupus causes a butterfly-shaped rash on the cheeks and nose that looks like a sunburn (called malar rash). Sometimes it affects other body parts, like the arms and legs.
What is a lupus flare? | Lupus Foundation of America
Jul 29, 2020 · A lupus "flare" or "flare up" is when your lupus symptoms worsen and you feel ill as a result. The formal definition of a flare is: A measurable increase in disease activity in one or more organ systems involving new or worse clinical signs and symptoms and/or lab measurements. The increase must be considered clinically significant by the ...