Lupus increases the risk for serious organ damage (kidneys, heart, lungs, brain), cardiovascular disease (heart attack, stroke), infections, blood disorders (anemia, clots), osteoporosis, and mental health issues like depression, alongside pregnancy complications. Its autoimmune nature attacks the body's own tissues, causing inflammation and potential long-term scarring, making heart disease the leading cause of death, notes Johns Hopkins Lupus Center.
Overview. Lupus is a condition in which the body's immune system attacks its own tissues and organs. This is called an autoimmune condition. Lupus causes swelling and irritation, called inflammation, that may affect joints, skin, kidneys, blood cells, brain, heart and lungs.
Many people with lupus experience problems with their heart, lungs, and blood . Lupus increases your risk of cardiovascular disease or “heart disease”, which is a leading cause of death among patients with lupus. Learn more about heart disease in people with lupus.
Lupus causes inflammation throughout your body. This can cause problems in your organs, including: Kidney damage (lupus nephritis). Heart problems, including inflammation in the heart (myocarditis), heart valves, or lining of the heart muscle (pericarditis).
Without treatment, chilblain lupus skin lesions can get infected. People with chilblain lupus have higher risks of bacterial skin infections (cellulitis). In addition, if you haven't developed it already, chilblain lupus can also lead to systemic lupus erythematosus.
Some of the more common infections include:
Lupus and Sjogren's syndrome are both autoimmune diseases. Up to 5.5 million people in the U.S. have been diagnosed with lupus or Sjogren's syndrome. However, Sjogren's syndrome occurs up to three times more than lupus, but one-third of lupus patients also have Sjogren's syndrome.
Lupus can attack many different parts of the body. Some call it the cruel mystery. Lupus is an autoimmune disease that can strike any part of the body, but the wide range of symptoms can be easily mistaken for something else.
The Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) infects more than 94% of people on Earth. While EBV has long been associated with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), the mechanism(s) by which it may promote disease has remained unclear — until now.
Other diseases that overlap with lupus
Some lupus complications can include:
August 29 — The Lupus Research Alliance is excited to share the good news that a potential new medicine for lupus, anifrolumab, reduced disease activity versus placebo in a second Phase III study. Anifrolumab is a therapeutic antibody that blocks type I interferons, a molecule that promotes lupus inflammation.
It can be confused with other arthritic and painful conditions: Lupus can cause joint pain, swelling and stiffness like rheumatoid arthritis or fibromyalgia. It can masquerade as thyroid disease: Fatigue, weight changes and mood swings are common in both lupus and thyroid disorders.
Most experts believe that several factors work together to cause lupus, including a person's genes, their hormones, and contact with environmental triggers. Environmental triggers are things in a person's surroundings (like where they live or work), habits they have, or even certain events they experience.
Risk Factors
First, lupus itself can make infections occur more often. Lupus affects the immune system, which can sometimes limit the body's ability to fight bacteria, viruses and other microbes that can cause illness. This is because lupus can cause hyperactivity of certain immune cells.
The medicines used most often to manage lupus include:
Autoimmunity: Infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus may trigger autoimmune disease. Elevated levels of autoantibodies, which are believed to play a role in other autoimmune conditions, such as lupus (SLE), rheumatoid arthritis, or Sjögren's syndrome, have been noted in some patients with Long COVID.
Common Lupus Symptoms
Responses from patients with SLE indicated prevalent diagnoses of depression (40%) and anxiety (42%), as well as neuropsychiatric symptoms thought to be due to SLE—brain fog (42%), headache (36%), anxiety (24%), and depression (21%).
People with lupus should avoid certain supplements, including echinacea, spirulina, and vitamin E. These supplements may increase the immune system response and trigger lupus symptoms. It is also helpful to avoid excess sun exposure, salt, and alfalfa sprouts, which may also make symptoms worse.
In conclusion, we have demonstrated that parasites like Hymenolepis microstoma, TPC and ES-62 from Acanthocheilonema viteae, Plasmodium chabaudi, Schistosoma mansoni, and Toxoplasma gondii have favorable immunomodulating effects on SLE outcomes in lupus-prone mice.
Pregnant women with lupus, especially those having a flare, are at higher risk for complications. These include: Miscarriage. Preterm delivery, especially with a lupus flare.
But essentially everyone with lupus is EBV-infected, studies have shown. An EBV-lupus connection has been long suspected but never nailed down until now.
We know how serious these diseases are. Giant cell myocarditis, vasculitis, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), multiple sclerosis (MS), and type 1 diabetes are among the deadliest. They can cause organ failure and life-threatening outcomes.