lupus is an autoimmune disease characterized by acute and chronic inflammation of various tissues of the body. autoimmune diseases are illnesses that occur when the body's tissues are attacked by its own immune system. the immune system is a complex system within the body that is designed to fight infectious agents such as bacteria and other foreign microbes. one of the ways that the immune system fights infections is by producing antibodies that bind to the microbes. people with lupus produce abnormal antibodies in their blood that target tissues within their own body rather than foreign infectious agents. because the antibodies and accompanying cells of inflammation can affect tissues anywhere in the body lupus has the potential to affect a variety of areas. sometimes lupus can cause disease of the skin heart lungs kidneys joints and/or nervous system. when only the skin is involved the condition is called lupus dermatitis or cutaneous lupus erythematosus. a form of lupus dermatitis that can be isolated to the skin without internal disease is called discoid lupus. when internal organs are involved the condition is referred to as systemic lupus erythematosus (sle). both discoid and systemic lupus are more common in women than men (about eight times more common). the disease can affect all ages but most commonly begins from 20-45 years of age. statistics demonstrate that lupus is somewhat more frequent in african americans and people of chinese and japanese descent.
what is lupus? what are the types of lupus?