What Is Lupus? What is Lupus: Lupus is a disease that affects
2-4 million people. Learn the symptoms of this debilitating (and
potentially deadly) disease. Knowledge is power! Systemic Lupus
Erythmatosus, or as it's commonly referred to, lupus, is an
autoimmune disease that affects as many as 2 to 4 million
people. This is more people than are affected by multiple
sclerosis, Lou Gerig's Disease, and cerebral palsy combined. In
autoimmune diseases, the body's defense against infection, the
immune system, malfunctions. In a healthy person, the immune
system knows the body's cells as "self" and cells like bacteria
and viruses as "invaders". It creates cells to fight the
"invaders". These "warriors", called antigens, attack and
destroy the "invaders", leaving the body infection-free. With
lupus, a body's immune system becomes unable to tell the
difference between "self" and "invader" and creates antigens to
attack and destroy the body's own cells. Any organ or system is
vulnerable to these renegade antigens, but