(BlackDoctor.org) -- Lupus erythmatosus is a chronic autoimmune disorder of the connective tissue of the body, in which inflammation occurs in various systems and organs including the skin, blood cells, joints, heart, lungs and kidneys.
In autoimmune diseases, the immune system loses its ability to recognize the body’s own tissues and cells as belonging to the body. Thus, the immune system, which normally protects the body from outside invaders like bacteria or viruses,
"Medical students are often told 'Know lupus and you know medicine,'" says Dr. Daniel Wallace, rheumatologist, in his book The Lupus Book. "Understanding the immunology of lupus will help us better understand AIDS, infections in general, allergies and cancer," Wallace says. Just like lupus, those diseases are immune-related disorders. The factors that cause lupus go to the core of how the immune system works and advances in understanding it often have a spillover effect to the insight into
(BlackDoctor.org) -- Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE, or lupus) is a chronic, inflammatory, multisystem disorder of the immune system. In SLE, the body develops antibodies that react against the person’s own normal tissue. These antibodies are markers for SLE, and are one indicator of many immune system abnormalities that lead to clinical manifestations.
Treatment of SLE
The treatment of SLE is as varied as its course. Although
(BlackDoctor.org) -- A new study shows the increased risk of lupus could be found in birth control pills with higher doses.
"Women who take oral contraceptives have a 50% higher risk of having lupus than women who don't take them," says study researcher Samy Suissa, PhD, a professor of epidemiology at McGill University in Montreal.
But to put that in perspective, he says the overall risk is still small.
In the study, Suissa and colleagues also found the risk higher in women