Lupus

Lupus is an autoimmune disease, which means that it affects the immune system.

The body makes cells that attack germs and infections. With lupus, these cells can't tell the difference between the healthy cells and germs, so they attack everything.

There are 3 types of lupus:

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is the most serious. It can affect the skin, joints, and tendons. The brain, heart, lungs, and kidneys can also be affected.

Discoid Lupus is more rare than SLE. It causes a rash on the face, neck, scalp, and ears than can scar, but doesn't affect other organs.

Drug-Induced Lupus is caused by a reaction to certain medicines. It affects the body like SLE, but usually goes away when the medicines are stopped.

Treatment depends on how bad the symptoms are and what parts of the body are affected.