Can someone explain Lupus to me?

[Breezy]

Someone very close to me has just been told that he may have Lupus. The only information I know about Lupus comes from a soap opera that I used to watch.

The girl who had Lupus wasn’t supposed to drink. That is about all I remember, and I know it’s not the best place to get medical information…

Can you all tell me what you know about this disease?

Thanks ahead of time.

[Turek]

From here.

Lupus is a chronic inflammatory disease that can affect various parts of the body, especially the skin, joints, blood, and kidneys. The body’s immune system normally makes proteins called antibodies to protect the body against viruses, bacteria, and other foreign materials. These foreign materials are called antigens. In an autoimmune disorder such as lupus, the immune system loses its ability to tell the difference between foreign substances (antigens) and its own cells and tissues. The immune system then makes antibodies directed against “self.” These antibodies, called “auto-antibodies,” react with the “self” antigens to form immune complexes. The immune complexes build up in the tissues and can cause inflammation, injury to tissues, and pain.

For most people, lupus is a mild disease affecting only a few organs. For others, it may cause serious and even life-threatening problems. More than 16,000 Americans develop lupus each year. It is estimated that 500,000 to 1.5 million Americans have been diagnosed with lupus.

[ShibbOleth]

From the Lupus Foundation of America site:

Lupus is a chronic inflammatory disease that can affect various parts of the body, especially the skin, joints, blood, and kidneys. The body’s immune system normally makes proteins called antibodies to protect the body against viruses, bacteria, and other foreign materials. These foreign materials are called antigens. In an autoimmune disorder such as lupus, the immune system loses its ability to tell the difference between foreign substances (antigens) and its own cells and tissues. The immune system then makes antibodies directed against “self.” These antibodies, called “auto-antibodies,” react with the “self” antigens to form immune complexes. The immune complexes build up in the tissues and can cause inflammation, injury to tissues, and pain.

My BIL has Lupus. It was explained to me as sort of the “opposite of AIDS”, in that the immune system malfunctions and attacks the body. A lot more at the link that I provided.

[dorkusmalorkusmafia]

My sister’s best friend just died (well within the month) from complications due to Lupus. It was quite horrible with one major organ going into shutdown after the other. Her lungs went first (she could breathe on her own, but just barely), then her liver (she drank a lot even after being diagnosed), her kidneys, and finally her heart. Her joints were almost constantly arthritic but she still managed to move around.

When she was talking about it to me one day, she said that women are the primary target of Lupus, especially black women. (She was black.) I don’t know if that is true at all and am interested in finding out. Her case was pretty severe at the end but she had been Lupus positive for around 20 years and died in her very early 50s.