What Causes Lupus? Holly MI
What Causes Lupus?
About 1.5 million Americans suffer from lupus. The most common form is systemic lupus erythematosus, which accounts for nearly 70 percent of cases. It's an autoimmune disease that causes the immune system to attack normal tissue and organs, including the kidneys, heart, lungs and skin.
Lupus can be mild or severe. Although treatment has improves significantly over the past few decades, there is still no cure. It appears that the disease is on the rise, although some scientists suggest that this increase may be due to better diagnosis in recent years.
The Causes of Lupus
First identified in the 1850s, lupus is still widely misunderstood. The exact cause is still unknown. However, because this autoimmune condition tends to run in families, doctors believe that genes play a role. About 20 percent of patients having a sibling or parent who has the disease.
Also, according to the Lupus Foundation of America (LFA), if one identical twin has lupus, there's an increased likelihood that the other twin will also have it. Even if there's no family history involved, other autoimmune diseases (such as rheumatoid arthritis) in your family could increase your risk of developing lupus.
Lupus occurs more in some ethnic groups, notably people of African, Hispanic, Native American, Asian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Island descent, according to the LFA.
Even if you're genetically predisposed to lupus, the disease has to be triggered. Some of the possible triggers include an infection, sun exposure, childbirth, stress, injury, or medications such as antibiotics or drugs that increase photosensitivity...
