About Lupus and Women
Lupus is a chronic, autoimmune disease that can damage any part of the body (skin, joints, and/or organs inside the body). Chronic means that the signs and symptoms tend to last longer than six weeks and often for many years. In lupus, something goes wrong with your immune system, which is the part of the body that fights off viruses, bacteria, and other germs (“foreign invaders,” like the flu). Normally our immune system produces proteins called antibodies that protect the body from these invaders. Autoimmune means your immune system cannot tell the difference between these foreign invaders and your body’s healthy tissues (“auto” means “self”). In lupus, your immune system creates autoantibodies, which attack and destroy healthy tissue. These autoantibodies cause inflammation, pain, and damage in various parts of the body.
When people talk about “lupus,” they usually mean systemic lupus erythematosus, or SLE. This is the most common type of lupus. Studies suggest that more than 16,000 new cases are reported annually across the country.
Although lupus can affect almost any organ system, the disease, for most people, affects only a few parts of the body. For example, one person with lupus may have swollen knees and fever. Another person may be tired all the time or have kidney trouble. Someone else may have rashes.
Normally, lupus develops slowly, with symptoms that come and go. Women who get lupus most often develop symptoms and are diagnosed between the ages of 15 and 45. But the disease also can develop in childhood or later in life.
For most people, lupus is a mild disease. But for others, it may cause serious problems. Even if your lupus symptoms are mild, it is a serious disease that needs treatment. It can harm your organs and put your life at risk if untreated.
Although the term “lupus” commonly refers to SLE, this is only one type of the disease. There are other, less common types of lupus:
- Discoid lupus erythematosus, also called DLE, mainly affects the skin. A red rash may appear. Or, the skin on the face, scalp, or elsewhere may become scaly or change color. Sometimes DLE causes sores in the mouth or nose. A doctor will remove a small piece of the rash or sore and look at it under a microscope to tell if someone has DLE. If you have DLE, there is a small chance that you will later get SLE. There is no way to know if someone with DLE will get SLE.
- Drug-induced lupus is a lupus-like disease caused by certain prescription drugs. The symptoms of drug-induced lupus are similar to those of systemic lupus, but only rarely will any major organs be affected. Symptoms can include: joint pain, muscle pain, and fever. Symptoms are mild for most people. Most of the time, the disease goes away when the medicine is stopped. More men get this type of lupus because the drugs with the highest risk of causing it are used to treat heart conditions that are more common in men; however, not everyone who takes these drugs will develop drug-induced lupus. The drugs most commonly connected with drug-induced lupus are procainamide
- Neonatal lupus is a rare condition that affects infants of women who have lupus and is caused by certain antibodies from the mother acting upon the infant in the womb. At birth, the infant may have a skin rash, liver problems, or low blood cell counts, but these symptoms disappear completely after several months with no lasting effects. Some infants with neonatal lupus can also have a serious heart defect. With proper testing, physicians can now identify most at-risk mothers, and the infant can be treated at or before birth. Most infants of mothers with lupus are entirely healthy.
Who gets lupus?
Anyone can get lupus. But 9 out of 10 people who have lupus are women. African American women are three times more likely to get lupus than white women. Lupus is also more common in Hispanic/Latino, Asian, and Native American women.
African Americans and Hispanics/Latinos tend to get lupus at a younger age and have more symptoms, including kidney problems. Lupus also tends to be more severe in these ethnic groups. For example, African Americans with lupus have more problems with seizures and strokes. Hispanic/Latino patients have more heart problems. Scientists believe that genes play a role in how lupus affects these ethnic groups.
Why is lupus a concern for women?
Nine out of 10 people who have lupus are women. And lupus is most common in women of childbearing years. Having lupus increases your risk of developing other health problems that are common in women. It can also cause these diseases to occur earlier in life:
- Heart disease. When you have lupus you are at increased risk for the main type of heart disease, called coronary artery disease (CAD). This is partly because people with lupus have more CAD risk factors, which may include: high blood pressure (hypertension), high cholesterol levels, type 2 diabetes, and an inactive lifestyle due to fatigue, joint problems, and/or muscle pain. Heart disease is the number one killer of all women. But, women with lupus are 50 times more likely to have chest pain or a heart attack than other women of the same age.
- Osteoporosis. Women with lupus have more bone loss and breaks than other women. This is thought to happen because some medicines used to treat lupus cause bone loss. Bone loss also may occur as a direct result of the disease. Also, pain and fatigue can keep women with lupus from exercising. Keeping active is an important way to keep bones healthy and strong.
What causes lupus?
The cause of lupus is not known. More than one factor is likely to play a role in getting lupus. Researchers are looking at these factors:
- Environment (Sunlight, stress, certain medications, and viruses might trigger symptoms in people who are prone to getting lupus.)
- Hormones (Lupus is more common in women during childbearing years.)
- Problems with the immune system
What are the symptoms of lupus?
The signs of lupus differ from person to person. Some people have just a few symptoms; others have more. Lupus symptoms also tend to come and go. Lupus is a disease of flares (the symptoms worsen and you feel ill) and remissions (the symptoms improve and you feel better).
Common signs of lupus are:
- painful or swollen joints
- fever with no known cause
- feeling very tired
- skin rashes
- anemia (too few red blood cells)
- trouble thinking, memory problems, confusion
- kidney problems with no known cause
- chest pain when taking a deep breath
- butterfly-shaped rash across the nose and cheeks
- sun or light sensitivity
- hair loss
Less common symptoms include:
- blood clots
- purple or pale fingers or toes from cold or stress
- seizures
- sores in the mouth or nose
- severe headache
- dizzy spells
- “seeing things”, not able to judge reality
- feeling sad
- strokes
What are flares?
The times when your symptoms worsen and you feel ill are called flares. Flares tend to come and go. You may have swelling and rashes one week and no symptoms at all the next. Even if you take medicine for lupus, you may find that some things trigger your symptoms to flare. You may find that your symptoms flare after you’ve been out in the sun or after a hard day at work. Common triggers include:
- overwork and not enough rest
- stress
- being out in the sun or exposed to fluorescent or halogen light
- infection
- injury
- stopping your lupus medicines
- certain medications