What is lupus?

Question

On Leslie Hunt's fast facts on americanidol.com it says that her biggest obstacle in life is living her life with lupus.

Answer 1

Lupus is an autoimmune disease that can affect almost any part of the body, most often the joints, skin, kidneys, heart, lungs, blood, or brain.

Normally the immune system produces proteins called antibodies that protect the body from viruses and bacteria. In autoimmune diseases, the immune system instead produces antibodies directed against the healthy cells and tissues it is designed to protect. These autoantibodies (“auto” means “self”) cause inflammation and damage in various parts of the body.

Inflammation is considered the hallmark, or primary feature, of lupus; the word is from the Latin word for “set on fire,” so lupus is characterized by pain, heat, redness, swelling and loss of function, either on the inside or on the outside of the body (or both).

The Lupus Foundation of America (LFA) estimates that 1.5 million Americans have a form of lupus lupus, but the actual number may be higher. More than 90 percent of people with lupus are women. Symptoms and diagnosis occur most often when women are in their child-bearing years, between the ages of 15 and 45.

In the United States, lupus is more common in people of color - African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, and Native Americans - than in the Caucasian population.