What is lupus?

Lupus is an autoimmune disease that can affect many systems in the body and present with a variety of symptoms, the most common being a skin rash.

The disease is more common in Afro-Caribbean people and women. Whilst lupus is an autoimmune condition the cause of it is unknown.

What are the common symptoms of lupus?

One of the common symptoms of lupus is referred to as a butterfly rash because it is a red rash that extends across the nose and onto the cheeks like two butterfly wings.

Whilst the butterfly rash is a common symptom not all people with lupus have it. For this reason lupus is very difficult to diagnose.

Other common Lupus symptoms include:

• Joint pain
• Fatigue
• Less specific rashes

It is not just the variety of symptoms that makes lupus a difficult condition to diagnose. Some lupus sufferers have particular antibodies present in blood tests but this is not true of all cases. It is possible that a biopsy is needed to reach a definite diagnosis. This involves removing a small section of skin for analysis.

Practitioners with experience in diagnosing lupus are able to make a diagnosis by looking at the full spectrum of symptoms presented by the patient. Expert, Dr Peter Saul urges anyone who thinks they might have lupus to ask for a specialist opinion from a rheumatologist to confirm a diagnosis.

Dr. Peter Saul, MB ChB DRCOG DCH MRCGP, Allergy Specialist

10008 September 2011