Lupus facts for kids
Lupus, also known as Lupus erythematosus, is a long-lasting disease. It affects your immune system, which is your body's defense against germs. In lupus, your immune system mistakenly attacks your own healthy body parts.
Your immune system has special white blood cells that fight off sickness. But with lupus, these white blood cells get confused. They think your healthy cells are harmful invaders. So, they start attacking healthy parts of your body. Lupus can cause swelling and damage to different tissues. It can affect almost any part of your body. It often impacts the heart, joints, skin, lungs, blood vessels, kidneys, and even the brain.
Some common signs of lupus include:
- Feeling very tired (fatigue)
- Fevers that have no clear cause
- Hair loss
- Sores inside your mouth
- Being very sensitive to sunlight
- Skin rashes
- Raynaud's syndrome, which makes your fingers and toes feel numb and cold
There is no cure for lupus right now. But doctors can give you treatment to help manage it. This treatment is called immunosuppression. It uses medicine to calm down your immune system. This stops the white blood cells from damaging healthy cells for a while. However, the medicine wears off, and the white blood cells may start attacking again. Doctors are still working hard to find a permanent cure for lupus.
The name "lupus" comes from a Latin word meaning "wolf." This is because a certain rash caused by lupus can make a person's face look a bit like a wolf's face. In the United States, it's thought that between 270,000 and 1.5 million people have lupus. Worldwide, over 5 million people are estimated to be living with this condition. Lupus mostly affects young women, but men can get it too.
Famous People with Lupus
Many well-known people have shared their experiences with lupus.
- The Disney star Selena Gomez was diagnosed with lupus in 2013.
- The pop singer Michael Jackson was diagnosed with systemic lupus in 1986.
- Toni Braxton, a singer, also has systemic lupus.
- British singer-songwriter Seal has had scarring on his face from lupus since he was 23 years old.
Images for kids
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Common symptoms of SLE.
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Clearance deficiency.
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How immune cells look in people with SLE compared to healthy people.
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A micrograph (a picture taken through a microscope) showing skin changes seen in SLE.
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A test showing immune deposits in the skin of a person with lupus.
See also
In Spanish: Lupus eritematoso sistémico para niños
