Lupus affects which organs

Tell Your Story. Media Relations. Contact Us. Annual Report. National Lupus Partners Network. How lupus affects the body. How lupus affects the skin. How lupus affects the digestive system. How lupus affects the muscles, tendons and joints. How lupus affects the nervous system. How lupus affects the lungs and pulmonary system. How lupus affects the renal kidney system. How lupus affects the heart and circulation. How lupus affects the eyes. How lupus affects memory. How lupus affects the bones.

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Last updated: June 10, More resources to help you understand lupus. Get lupus resources and updates. Subscribe to our emails. Close Choose a chapter. Lupus Foundation of America. Supporting lupus patients and advocates in Arizona. Serving southern Illinois up to and including Springfield, eastern Kansas, and Missouri. Serving northern and central Illinois.

Serving all northern counties in New Jersey, south through Mercer and Ocean counties. National incidence data are difficult to obtain because it is relatively expensive to capture all diagnosed cases reliably learn more about SLE prevalence and incidence above and the year of onset is hard to determine slowly developing, non-specific symptoms and signs , so resource-intense studies must be done in small areas. Annual incidence estimates were much higher for women than men in Michigan 9.

Causes of premature death associated with SLE are mainly active disease, organ failure e. Using death certificates for US residents, SLE was identified as the underlying cause of death for an average of 1, deaths per year from — CDC has previously funded five lupus registries and the development of a public health agenda Cdc-pdf External to guide public health efforts.

Currently, CDC is funding work on several SLE-relevant activities, such as three follow-up studies and research for self-management. For more information, visit the CDC-funded activities page. SLE is the most common and most serious type of lupus. Other types of lupus include the following:. Cutaneous lupus skin lupus is lupus that affects the skin in the form of a rash or lesions. This type of lupus can occur on any part of the body, but usually appears where the skin is exposed to sunlight.

Drug-induced lupus is similar to SLE, but occurs as the result of an overreaction to certain medications. Symptoms usually occur 3 to 6 months after starting a medication, and disappear once the medicine is stopped. Neonatal lupus occurs when an infant passively acquires auto-antibodies from a mother with SLE. Top of Page. Section Navigation.

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Syndicate. Minus Related Pages. On This Page. What is SLE? How serious is SLE? What causes SLE? What are the signs and symptoms? What are the complications? Can I have a healthy pregnancy? How is SLE diagnosed? In the lungs, the blood is filled with oxygen and deposited back into the heart through the pulmonary vein and into the left atrium. The now oxygenated blood moves from the left atrium through a valve called the mitral valve into the left ventricle.

From the left ventricle the oxygenated blood is pumped out of the heart through the aortic valve into the aorta and on to the rest of the body. The walls of the heart are made up of muscle. In some patients with lupus there can be inflammation and weakening of the heart muscle which can result in less effective pumping of the heart. This was the case with Harmony and is called cardiomyopathy.

Patients with lupus can also experience problems with the heart valves. The valves may not open and close properly. Another common impact of lupus is called pericarditis, which is irritation and inflammation of the sac lining the heart or pericardium. Patients with pericarditis may experience chest pain that may worsen when they lie on their back.

Patients may also experience a pericardial effusion which is a build-up of fluid in the pericardium. The tests used to look for cardiomyopathy, valve disease or pericarditis would be an EKG and echocardiogram an ultrasound of the heart. Treatments for cardiomyopathy may include steroids or other lupus medications. Those with valve disease may need blood thinners or antibiotics for treatment.

Treatment for pericarditis and pericardial effusion may include anti-inflammatories, or in more severe pericardial effusion, they may need to be treated with steroids or have the fluid drained. Other lupus medications such as Imuran, Cellcept or Benlysta can also be used for treatment of these conditions. Harmony has avascular necrosis. This occurs when there is a lack of blood flow to certain parts of the bone which results in the death of that area of the bone.

Avascular necrosis occurs more commonly in patients who take high doses of steroids for a prolonged period of time. An x-ray or MRI can be used to evaluate a patient for avascular necrosis. Treatment is rest, pain medication, and may ultimately result in joint replacement surgery. Bone issues may also be caused by medications used to treat lupus.

In particular, patients who have taken steroids for long periods of time are at risk for issues with their bones. They may experience a thinning of the bone and decrease in bone density.

Osteopenia is a mild thinning of the bone and decrease in bone mineral density. Osteopenia is a precursor to osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is a more significant thinning of the bone and decrease in bone mineral density. The test for osteopenia and osteoporosis is a bone density test DEXA scan. In the general population this test is usually given to women of menopause age.

Those taking steroids may need to take this test at younger ages. Josephine is a year-old Caucasian woman who was referred by her general practitioner because he thought she had lupus.

She presented with:. Josephine was examined and her neurological exam was abnormal. An MRI was administered that showed Josephine did not have lupus but instead had spinal stenosis of the cervical spine narrowing of the cervical spine with spinal cord compression. The symptoms were caused by spinal issues and Josephine just happened to have a positive ANA. Some people may have a positive ANA and this not a clear indicator that they have a lupus or any autoimmune diseases.

The diagnosis of lupus is extremely complicated. Similarly, doctors may miss a diagnosis of lupus and mistakenly assign another diagnosis to explain a patient's symptoms when the cause is actually lupus.

For example, a doctor will have to look at the possibility of other rheumatic diseases, infections, heart disease, kidney disease, or even cancer before conclusively diagnosing lupus. An important aspect of lupus is that no two stories of lupus are exactly the same. The above case studies were complex examples of how lupus may present itself.

A more common presentation may be rashes, fatigue or abnormal blood test results. Some patients may only have abnormal blood tests with no presenting symptoms. Lupus can run the gamut between more severe cases like the ones presented in this workshop to extremely mild cases.

Once a patient is diagnosed with lupus they may find that their doctors will want to blame their lupus for any health related issues. Patients and doctors need to take into consideration that new symptoms may be caused by something besides lupus.