A few facts to help your understand Lupus

Lupus is a tricky disease. It can affect any part of the body. Behind it is an immune system gone wrong: Instead of protecting you, it turns on the body as though it were a foreign invader.

One person may have fatigue and fever, another joint pain and swelling or more severe symptoms, such as kidney or brain disease.

• Many also have fibromyalgia, a syndrome characterized by fatigue and joint pain.
• Other symptoms may include weight loss or gain, a telltale butterfly-shaped rash on the face, skin lesions worsened by the sun, mouth sores, hair loss, fingers and toes that whiten or turn blue under stress or from cold, chest pain, dry eyes, easy bruising, anxiety, depression, and memory loss.
• Lupus symptoms tend to appear in fits and starts. A person can seem to worsen, then suddenly improve or go into remission.

• One, discoid lupus erythematosus, affects only the skin.
• Another, drug-induced lupus, is caused by any of approximately 38 drugs, most commonly procainamide, a heart medication; hydralazine, a blood-pressure medication; or quinidine, also for the heart. It usually disappears once the medication is stopped.
• A third, lupus in newborns, usually disappears within six months. The most common type, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), is also the most serious.
• Fortunately, medication and lifestyle changes can limit both the disease's progress and its discomfort.

Lupus isn't easy to diagnose because its symptoms vary from person to person and from time to time.

• Before your doctor or rheumatologist offers any kind of treatment, she'll get your medical history, checking for a family history of lupus or autoimmune diseases.
• She'll look for the telltale rashes and give you blood and urine tests that can reveal antibodies that suggest you may be prone to lupus, as well as signs of damage to the kidneys and liver.
• She may also do a biopsy of your skin or kidney, looking for markers of autoimmune disease.
• She may order a chest X ray to detect fluid around the lungs and heart, and an electrocardiogram to check for heart damage.
• Lupus has the power to put you in a really bad mood. One way to take care of it is to take care of yourself by eating well, exercising, and getting plenty of sleep.

Although it is a tricky disease to diagnose, it is very important to get checked-out if you have several of these symptoms. Talk to your doctor or get a second opinion -- especially if you have these symptoms and your doctor can't pinpoint a diagnosis.