How To Understand Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

The category of diseases called "Lupus Erythematosus" include the type affecting a specific area of the body called the "discoid" type (affecting the skin), the "neonatal" type (affecting children beginning at birth), the drug-induced type and the "systemic" type, meaning it affects several areas of the body simultaneously. The subheadings below will address the systemic type of lupus erythematosus.  

1. Lupus is an autoimmune disease. Medical research has not discovered single, definitive causes for autoimmune diseases, but they do know that for reasons not fully understood, a person's immune system will begin to attack natural parts of the body, as it would viruses and allergens that pose a threat to health. Auto-antibodies are cells the immune system creates to give the body "immunity" to unhealthy cells that might invade it, by eradicating them or keeping them from reactivating and replicating. With lupus it creates them to instead attack natural tissues in the body. Lupus is not only in the autoimmune disease category but is also in the connective-tissue and inflammatory disease categories.
2. With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), several tissues and cells in the body are attacked by auto-antibodies. The affected areas can include the heart, kidneys, lungs, joints and muscles, the thyroid gland, the adrenal glands and red blood cells. As these organs, glands or cells are attacked, they become inflamed and damaged over time, which leads to dysfunction, and hormone imbalances and anemia can begin to develop in the body. This is why the "systemic" term is used for this type because the autoimmunity can have a body-wide effect on those who experience the disease. Rather than being a localized type of autoimmunity, such as that seen with autoimmune thyroid diseases, in which the one gland or organ is affected, systemic lupus can affect several of them.
3. The symptoms of SLE vary according to how advanced the disease has become. Symptoms also vary according to which glands, organs or tissues of the body are affected. Some patients with SLE experience more of the hormone-imbalance symptoms, while others may experience ones related more-so to chronic anemia (low blood counts). Other patients experience severe and even life-threatening symptoms in severe cases when many areas of the body are affected and organs and glands begin to shut down over time. SLE symptoms may include those listed below:

• Fatigue and weakness in the body
• Chronic Uitcaria (severe rash)
• Skin and mouth sores and ulcers
• Changes in body weight (gain or loss)
• Emotional symptoms of anxiety and/or depression 
• Muscle and joint pain
• Dry eyes and skin
• Fever (from low-grade to highly elevated)
• Lack of blood circulation to the extremities (hands and feet)

Anyone experiencing these type symptoms, even if only one or two of them are present, should see a licensed doctor immediately. SLE cannot but cured but the symptoms, hormone imbalances and any resulting anemia are treatable, and treatment success is better attained the earlier the disease is diagnosed.