Family history: Relatives of people with lupus have a greater chance of developing lupus. Only about 2 percent of children whose mothers have lupus will develop it.
Your family history.
Relatives of people with lupus have a 5-13 percent chance of developing lupus. However, only about 5 percent of children will develop lupus if their mother has it.
Lupus is not a hereditary condition. However, genetic factors play an important role in developing lupus, and certain inheritable genes may increase a person's risk of lupus. Lupus is a chronic autoimmune condition in which the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue.
If symptoms develop (e.g., joint swelling and pain, unexplained rashes, atypical chest pain), we encourage family members to seek evaluation from their regular doctors, and to be sure to mention the family history of lupus.
Although lupus affects people of all ages, it's most often diagnosed between the ages of 15 and 45. Race. Lupus is more common in African Americans, Hispanics and Asian Americans.
Common triggers include:
Being out in the sun or having close exposure to fluorescent or halogen light. Infection. Injury. Stopping your lupus medicines.
Sjogren's syndrome is a relatively common disease, although often under-diagnosed. Sjogren's syndrome can occur alone or in association with other autoimmune diseases, most commonly lupus and rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
SLE and other autoimmune disorders tend to run in families, but the inheritance pattern is usually unknown. People may inherit a gene variation that increases or decreases the risk of SLE, but in most cases do not inherit the condition itself.
Kidneys About one half of people with lupus experience kidney involvement, and the kidney has become the most extensively studied organ affected by lupus. Lungs About 50% of people with SLE will experience lung involvement during the course of their disease.
90% of people affected by lupus are women. The involvement of this gene may help explain why. The TLR7 gene is located on the X chromosome and women have two copies, while men only have one so the chances of having the disease are much lower.
While you can't prevent lupus, you can try interventions that slow disease progression and reduce the frequency of lupus flares. If you are in the preclinical stage of lupus, it's a good idea to get tested and screened for the condition regularly.
Some people shared that it feels as though they have been drained of all their energy. A few explained it as feeling like their life force has leaked out and that they can even feel it as it leaves their body. After that, they know they do not have any energy to give to others or even themselves.
Who is at risk for SLE? SLE can affect people of all ages, including children. However, women of childbearing ages—15 to 44 years—are at greatest risk of developing SLE. Women of all ages are affected far more than men (estimates range from 4 to 12 women for every 1 man).
Arthritis, fever, serositis, sicca symptoms, Raynaud's syndrome, lung disease and neuropsychiatric symptoms are more common in patients with elderly-onset lupus, while malar rash, discoid lupus and glomerulonephritis are less common in elderly-onset patients compared with younger lupus patients.
With close follow-up and treatment, 80-90% of people with lupus can expect to live a normal life span. It is true that medical science has not yet developed a method for curing lupus, and some people do die from the disease. However, for the majority of people living with the disease today, it will not be fatal.
Stress may cause the same reactions that can occur in any person who does not have lupus. Stress can be associated with (precipitate or initiate) the first appearance of their lupus. Stress may be associated with a flare-up of their already existing disease.
Viruses that have been linked to lupus include: Cytomegalovirus. Epstein-Barr virus, which causes mononucleosis. Varicella-zoster virus, which causes chickenpox and shingles.
Undifferentiated Connective Tissue Disease
“There are people who have a milder form of an autoimmune disease who just don't meet the classification criteria for lupus. We call that undifferentiated connective tissue disease (UCTD),” says Dr. Petri.
Lupus can be hard to diagnose because it has many symptoms that are often mistaken for symptoms of other diseases. Many people have lupus for a while before they find out they have it. If you have symptoms of lupus, tell your doctor right away. No single test can tell if a person has lupus.
Lupus is known as "the great imitator" because its symptoms mimic many other illnesses. Lupus symptoms can also be unclear, can come and go, and can change. On average, it takes nearly six years for people with lupus to be diagnosed, from the time they first notice their lupus symptoms.
Antibody blood tests
The test you will hear about most is called the antinuclear antibodies test (the ANA test). 97% of people with lupus will test positive for ANA.
Sulfa drugs, which make a person more sensitive to the sun, such as: Bactrim® and Septra® (trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole); sulfisoxazole (Gantrisin®); tolbutamide (Orinase®); sulfasalazine (Azulfidine®); diuretics. Sun-sensitizing tetracycline drugs such as minocycline (Minocin®)