Article Medically Reviewed By:
Joan T. Merrill, M.D.
Medical Director, Lupus Foundation of America Head, Clinical Pharmacology Research Program Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation Oklahoma City, OK
Overview
What Is It?
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic, inflammatory disorder of the immune system that affects several body systems simultaneously.
Achy, swollen joints; fever; skin rashes; fatigue—these are some of the more typical symptoms of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), a chronic, inflammatory disorder of the immune system that affects several body systems simultaneously. Approximately 1.5 million to 2 million people in the United States have some form of lupus, and, according to the Lupus Foundation of America, the number may be even higher.
SLE is classified as an autoimmune disorder because the body's immune system, which normally fights harmful bacteria and viruses, also targets healthy tissue, sometimes including skin, joints, kidneys, brain, heart and lungs. The condition can result in immediately serious or life-threatening problems or in chronic low-grade symptoms, such as fatigue and muscle aches, which affect the quality of life.
In Latin, lupus means wolf, and erythematosus means redness. Physicians who first described the disease thought that one of its characteristic rashes looked liked a wolf bite. The terms "SLE" and "lupus" are often used interchangeably, but there are several kinds of lupus, including:
- Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) can affect almost any organ or system in the body. In some people with systemic lupus, only the skin and joints are involved; in others, the joints, lungs, kidneys, blood, or other organs and/or tissues are all affected. Any two people with systemic lupus will be unlikely to have all the same symptoms. Systemic lupus may include remission periods during which few or no symptoms are evident and "flares," when the disease becomes active.
- Discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE), also called cutaneous lupus, involves the development of lesions on the face or other sun-exposed areas. The lesions are abnormally red, raised, hard bumps or plaques. They may include an overgrowth of scaly tissue, plugged hair follicles and abnormally widened small blood vessels. Thinning of the healing skin, called atrophic scarring, as well as loss of color in the skin, called dyspigmentation, may occur in older lesions. If the condition involves the scalp, there may be permanent scarring and loss of hair. Lesions are usually on the face or other sun-exposed areas. Many people have DLE without SLE. In approximately 10 percent of these cases, DLE later progresses to the more severe SLE. This is more likely to happen in patients with lesions both above and below the neck.
- Drug-induced lupus is caused by certain medications, the most common being: procainamide (Pronesyl), used for heart rhythm abnormalities; hydralazine (Hydra-Zide), used for high blood pressure; and isoniazid (...
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