Types of Lupus

Lupus erythematosus is a connective tissue disease that can affect any part of the body. Lupus is a chronic inflammatory skin disease that occurs in the bodies immune system attacking its own tissues and organs. Inflammation of Lupus most often attacks the:

• Heart

• Joints

• Skin

• Lungs

• Blood vessels

• Liver
  

• Kidneys
  

• The nervous system

The disease occurs nine times more often in women than it does in men, especially between the ages of 15 and 50.  Lupus is treatable through addressing it symptoms mainly with corticosteroids and immunosuppressants with currently no cure. Systemic can be a fatal disease, however with recent medical advances fatalities are becoming increasingly rare. With treatment, most people with lupus can lead active normal lives.

Types

There are four types of lupus that exist Systemic lupus erythematosus, Discoid lupus erythematosus, drug induced lupus erythematosus, and neonatal lupus.

Systematic Lupus Erythematosus

Systematic Lupus Erythematosus is a chronic autoimmune connective tissue disease that can affect any part of the body. It is the most common type of lupus that occurs in people today. As other autoimmune diseases, the immune system attacks the bodies cells and tissue resulting in inflammation and tissue damage. It is treatable through addressing its symptoms with corticosteroids and imminodepressants. This is also the most fatal type of lupus, however with recent medical advances, fatalities are becoming increasingly rare.

Discoid Lupus erythematosus

Discoid Lupus erythematosus can be divided into localized, generalized and childhood discoid lupus erythematosis.

• Localized- Typically is present with skin lesions localized above the neck, with its favorite sports on the scalp, bridge of nose, cheeks, lower lip, and ears.

• Generalized- Discoid lupus erythematosus is less common than localized discoid lupus, with all degrees of severity being encountered. Generalized lupus most commonly affects the thorax and upper regions in addition to the head and neck.

• Childhood- Childhood Discoid lupus erythematosus lacks a female predominance. It has a low frequency to photo sensitivity and a higher progression to systematic lupus. The presentation of childhood lupus is similar to those in adults.

Drug Induced Lupus Erythematosus

Drug induced erythematosus is an autoimmune disorder very similar to systematic lupus. It is induced by chronic use of certain drugs, and these drugs can cause an autoimmune response in the body. There are currently 38 known medications that cause drug induced lupus. Symptoms of drug induced lupus are fever, elevated blood pressure, skin lesions, and arthritis. Generally the symptoms will reduce after discontinuing the drugs, but there are reported caused of it not going away.

Neonatal Lupus

Neonatal Lupus is present in infants, most often girls. It happens to infants whose mothers carry the Ro/SSA antibody. They will have skin lesions at birth, but develop them during the first weeks of life.