What is Lupus?

Lupus is a long-term autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system becomes hyperactive and attacks normal, healthy tissue. Symptoms include inflammation, swelling, and damage to the joints, skin, kidneys, blood, heart, and lungs.

Due to its complex nature, people sometimes call lupus the “disease of 1,000 faces.” In the around the world, it is reported that around 16,000 new cases of lupus each year, and up to 1.5 million people may be living with the condition, according to the Lupus Foundation of America.

The Foundation say that lupus affects women in particular, and it is most likely to appear between the ages of 15 and 44 years.

Lupus gained public attention since popular celebrities including Seal, Selena Gomez and Nick Canon announced that they have the disease and have had treatments for the condition. Seal has mentioned in his interviews that he has been affected by lupus since his teenage years, which caused hair loss and scarring on his face. Lupus is not a contagious disease. A person cannot transmit it sexually or in any other way to another person.

However, in rare cases, women with lupus may give birth to children who develop a form of lupus. This is called neonatal lupus.

Causes

Lupus is an autoimmune condition, but the exact cause is unclear.

What goes wrong?

The immune system protects the body and fights off antigens, such as viruses, bacteria, and germs. It does this by producing proteins called antibodies. White blood cells, or B lymphocytes, produce these antibodies. When a person has an autoimmune condition, such as lupus, the immune system cannot differentiate between unwanted substances, or antigens, and healthy tissue. As a result, the immune system directs antibodies against both the healthy tissue and the antigens. This causes swelling, pain, and tissue damage.

The most common type of autoantibody that develops in people with lupus is an antinuclear antibody (ANA). The ANA reacts with parts of the cell’s nucleus, the command center of the cell.

These autoantibodies circulate in the blood, but some of the body’s cells have walls permeable enough to let some autoantibodies through.