The Five Kinds of Lupus
Lupus is a disease that affects the immune system. When a person develops lupus it is like the body is attacking itself instead of protecting itself from disease. The tissues are attacked as are the body’s organs. It can be very difficult with an assortment of physical symptoms that make life hard to deal with until medication has been prescribed and the patient begins to feel better and return to their normal routines. There is no cure for lupus only medications that can ease the symptoms. Most people do not realize that lupus comes in several forms.
Systemic lupus erythematosus, commonly called SLE for ease, is the most common and most difficult of the types of lupus. When you hear someone discuss having lupus this is likely what they mean. This condition can affect any part of the body. It will frequently start between the ages of fifteen and forty five, but can occur anytime. It seems to prefer women more than men and is likelier to develop in non-Caucasian women. It can be serious or mild in its symptoms and can do into remission at any time just like it can flare at any time.
Drug induced lupus is exactly what it sounds like. It is lupus that develops because of medications that are taken for other conditions. They have the same symptoms as systemic lupus erythematosus, fever, rashes, aches and pains, swelling of the joints, but the disease does not do the potential kidney damage that SLE can do. When the mediation is stopped the drug induced lupus will disappear. There are at least thirty eight drugs that have shown ties to drug induced lupus. They are all medications that are used long term to treat chronic conditions like heart disease, hypertension, thyroid disease or neuropsychiatric conditions as well as some medications that are used as anti-inflammatory drugs and a few antibiotics.
Subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus is a disorder where the skin has sores all over it. But only the places that have been exposed to the sun. These ring shaped lesions do not cause scarring. They are more common among Caucasian women, unlike SLE itself. This condition is seen as a subset of SLE and affects about ten percent of those with systemic lupus erythematosus.
Discoid lupus erythematosus is a chronic disorder. The symptoms are a rash, usually appearing on the face or scalp though it can be on other places on the body. The rash is raised; red and can over time become thick and scaly. Eventually this rash can cause scarring. The rash can last anywhere from a matter of days to years. Even when it goes away it is likely to reoccur.
The final type of lupus is called neonatal lupus. This means that it is something that can occur in the newborn infant of a woman who has SLE. The child will be born with a red rash and have liver difficulties with low blood counts as the other concern. Fortunately within a few months most babies are symptom free.
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