Miriam was surprised that she felt so tired toward the end of a relaxing beach vacation. When she got home, she attributed the butterfly-shaped rash on her nose and cheeks to too much sun. However, a few months later, she found out she was suffering from one of the types of lupus.
What exactly is lupus?
It’s a chronic inflammatory disease that strikes an estimated 1.5 million Americans, according to the Lupus Foundation of America. Although this autoimmune condition affects individuals of all races and backgrounds, women of color are two to three times more likely to contract it than other people are. The greatest concentration of patients is among women between the ages of 15 and 44.
Lupus can cause damage to any part of the body, whether skin, joints or internal organs. One of the major characteristics of the disease is its tendency to flare periodically. When symptoms strike, they typically continue for at least six weeks and sometimes for years.
A lupus patient’s flawed autoimmune system creates antibodies that destroy healthy tissue. The end result can be inflammation, pain and damage to various body parts. The disorder ranges from mild to life-threatening but always requires treatment by a health care provider.
Why is it important to know the types of lupus?
According to the Mayo Clinic, there are four recognized types of lupus. It’s important to know which type a patient has because each variety has a different prognosis and treatment.
Systemic lupus erythematosus. Also known as SLE, it’s the type most people are referring to when they use the word lupus. While it can affect almost all parts of the body, it’s most commonly associated with the skin lungs, joints, kidneys and blood. Doctors consider this the most serious form of the disease.
Discoid lupus erythematosus. This type of lupus affects only a patient’s skin. Most individuals with the disorder have a circular rash on the face, neck and scalp. Some patients eventually develop SLE, though this is uncommon. Unfortunately, experts have no way of knowing which patients this might be.
Drug-induced lupus erythematosus. It develops after patients take certain prescription drugs. This puzzles medical professionals, since not everyone who takes these medications gets lupus. This variety usually affects a number of body parts and systems. However, when patients stop taking the medication responsible, symptoms usually disappear.
Neonatal lupus. This condition occurs in a newborn baby when the mother has specific antibodies associated with autoimmune diseases and passes them to her fetus. The antibodies the baby receives cause neonatal lupus, which doctors consider a rare type. A mother can pass the antibodies to her baby even though she has no symptoms of the illness. The child might develop a rash within a few weeks after delivery. Sometimes this type of lupus disappears after a few weeks. One of the potential complications of the more serious cases is congenital heart block, an issue with the heart’s electrical system.
Since symptoms of lupus vary so greatly among patients, doctors consider the illness difficult to diagnose. The Mayo Clinic reports that many health care providers use a checklist of 11 criteria developed by the American College of Rheumatology to help diagnose and classify the disorder. If a patient has at least four of the criteria at once or individually over time, he or she probably has lupus. Patients can help doctors discover which of the types of lupus they have by keeping accurate records of symptoms and their dates.
Sources:
Lupus Foundation of America site
Mayo Clinic site
