Lupus: A Serious Yet Little Known Illness Quiz

Answer: Autoimmune disorders

Every type of lupus is an autoimmune disorder. The body's own immune system mistakenly attacks parts of the body.

Answer: All of these

Lupus (systemic lupus erythematosus) can affect pretty much any part of the body, primarily heart, brain and kidneys, but also joints, skin, bone marrow, liver, muscles and others. It causes extreme pain and fatigue. If organs are affected, the illness is termed "severe".

When organs are not affected, the illness is termed "mild". This can be misleading as the patient can still be in a lot of pain and extremely disabled. A better way to look at it would be organ-involvement or non-organ-involvement.

Answer: Women age 20-40

For reasons not yet understood, 90% of lupus sufferers are women. Disease onset usually occurs between the ages of 20 and 40. However lupus can start outside this age bracket and some men are also affected. Afro-Caribbean people also have a much higher incidence of the disease.

Answer: They can't be transmitted

Lupus of any type is a non-contagious disease and cannot be transmitted. It is an autoimmune disease where the body mistakenly produces antibodies to its own tissue. This causes the immune system to attack the patient's own body. These antibodies are harmless to other people.

However there is evidence that genetics plays some role in the development of the disease. People with relatives with lupus or with a family history of any type of autoimmune illnesses are more likely to develop the disease.

Answer: Anti convulsants

Lupus (systemic lupus erythematosus) is an incurable disease, but symptoms can be reduced with treatment. It was discovered by accident that anti-malarials help with symptoms and have very few side effects. Steroids and chemotherapy drugs are used to suppress the immune system to prevent it from attacking the body.

However these have serious side effects, including increased risk of cancer, increased risk of infection, heart disease, osteoporosis, mood swings and weight gain. Despite this, their use is unavoidable in more serious cases of systemic lupus.

Anti-convulsant drugs may be used when lupus(systemic lupus erythematosus) has affected the brain and caused long term epilepsy.

Answer: heart disease

When lupus (systemic lupus erythematosus) affects vital organs, it is called severe systemic lupus. Although any organ can be affected, the most common is the heart, and this leads to heart disease being the most common cause of death.

Answer: Patients have very different symptoms

Because lupus can affect so many parts of the body, patients can have a varied and bewildering set of symptoms. It is often called the great mimic, since it can look like other illnesses. Very often multiple sclerosis is suspected instead. No two patients will be alike. Because of this, it can take a very long time to get a diagnosis, and patients see five doctors on average before getting diagnosed.

Answer: Nephritic

There are three known types of lupus. The two main types are discoid lupus and systemic lupus (systemic lupus erythematosus). Discoid lupus affects mainly the skin, although patients may also suffer from some joint pain and fatigue. It is far less serious than systemic lupus which affects any part of the body. It is not life-threatening whereas systemic lupus(systemic lupus erythematosus) can be fatal if it attacks vital organs.

In some cases discoid lupus can develop into systemic lupus, although this is relatively rare. However, because of this, patients with discoid lupus must be carefully monitored.

Finally, there is a type of lupus induced by certain drugs or medicines, usually referred to as drug induced lupus. This type of lupus is reversible and disappears when the patient stops being exposed to the offending substance.

Answer: lack of understanding and awareness

All lupus (systemic lupus erythematosus) symptoms are difficult to deal with. Yet surprisingly, a recent study reported that systemic lupus patients find the lack of understanding and awareness hardest to deal with. Since most systemic lupus symptoms such as pain, fatigue, neurological symptoms, heart or kidney symptoms are not visible from the outside, they may look very healthy. Ironically, often the only visible symptom is a malar rash which is a pink rash over the cheeks, making the patient look even healthier.

This makes it difficult for other people to appreciate how sick the person is. And since most people have never heard of systemic lupus, they don't know what symptoms the patient may be dealing with.

Answer: It has flares and remissions

The disease usually has periods of greater activity and then better periods. However the more "minor" symptoms such as pain and fatigue are often always present. The illness can attack new organs at any time, so overall the disease can get much worse. Systemic lupus (systemic lupus erythematosus) may also cause permanent damage which will persist regardless of disease activity.