ANSWERS: 9
  • To help you out I am going to "quote" some statements from the Lupus Foundation Website http://www.lupus.org and below each I will explain it in -laymens terms. "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." ---It affects your immune system, the one that keeps you from getting sick by attacking bacteria and nasty stuff in your body. ---Lupus can cause problems with many different parts of the body. "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." ---Lupus tricks your body into attacking the healthy cells (muscle cells, tissue cells, etc) in these various parts of the body. It's like your body treats these areas as if they are an invader. "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 main thing you will notice with Lupus are inflammed, red, painful, swollen areas that might be patches on your skin that you can see which also extend deeper... or they might be painful and swollen but located inside the body where you can't see them. "The cause(s) of lupus is unknown, but there are environmental and genetic factors involved. While scientists believe there is a genetic predisposition to the disease, it is known that environmental factors also play a critical role in triggering lupus. Some of the environmental factors that may trigger the disease are: infections, antibiotics (especially those in the sulfa and penicillin groups), ultraviolet light, extreme stress, certain drugs, and hormones." ---Basically, you can't 'contract it.' You can't give it to someone else. It is a disease that you develop for a variety of reasons that is specific to your own body. "Lupus is often called a "woman's disease" despite the fact that many men are affected. Lupus can occur at any age, and in either sex, although it occurs 10-15 times more frequently among adult females than among adult males after puberty or after the emergence into sexual maturity. " ---Mostly women get Lupus, but a few men do too. --------------------------- Check the Lupus website's "About Lupus" section for more. http://www.lupus.org/webmodules/webarticlesnet/templates/new_aboutintroduction.aspx?articleid=71&zoneid=9s
  • I think it means wolf in Latin.
  • An autoimmune disease: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lupus_erythematosus
  • Lupus is now recognised as an important and common illness of modern times. It is a disease in which the immune system goes ‘wrong’, becomes overactive. It can affect any organ of the body. Because the symptoms can be so diverse, including for example; fatigue, rashes, allergies, depression and kidney failure it is called the ‘great mimic’. All ages can be affected, but the commonest sufferers are young females, the peak ages being between 18 and 45. The outlook for most sufferers, given the correct treatment, has improved beyond recognition
  • If you have lupus, your immune system attacks healthy cells and tissues by mistake. This can damage your joints, skin, blood vessels and organs. There are many kinds of lupus. The most common type, systemic lupus erythematosus, affects many parts of the body. Discoid lupus causes a rash that doesn't go away. Subacute cutaneous lupus causes sores after being out in the sun. Another type can be caused by medication. Neonatal lupus, which is rare, affects newborns. Anyone can get lupus, but women are most at risk. Lupus is also more common in African American, Hispanic, Asian and Native American women. The cause of lupus is not known. More info: http://vsearch.nlm.nih.gov/vivisimo/cgi-bin/query-meta?server=vsearch1&v%3aproject=medlineplus&v%3afile=viv_Ika4WI&tab=collections&v%3astate=root%7croot&opener=full-window&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww.nlm.nih.gov%2fmedlineplus%2flupus.html&rid=Ndoc0&v%3aframe=redirect&
  • http://www.righthealth.com/Health/All%20About%20Lupus-s?lid=yhoo-ads-sb-0032276518
  • A great in depth article is here: http://vsearch.nlm.nih.gov/vivisimo/cgi-bin/query-meta?server=vsearch1&v%3aproject=medlineplus&v%3afile=viv_Ika4WI&tab=collections&v%3astate=root%7croot&opener=full-window&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww.nlm.nih.gov%2fmedlineplus%2flupus.html&rid=Ndoc0&v%3aframe=redirect&
  • Lupus is in the arthritis family, it's most common in families with other auto-immune disorders.
  • It's a chronic disease in which the body's immune system attacks itself, and it can affect any part of the body, including the heart, kidneys, skin, joints, etc. It can be fatal, but recently the mortality rate from lupus has gone down. The reason it comes up so often on House is that lupus has such a wide range of symptoms that could point to other diseases, therefore it's often a possibility.

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