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A guide to lupus

02 May 2024
In Practice
02 May 2024
Volume 12 · Issue 4

Abstract

In this article, Amy Noakes looks at lupus – an autoimmune condition that affects around 50 000 people in the UK and is more common in women of childbearing age

Lupus is a chronic condition with a wide range of clinical presentations (NHS, 2023). An autoimmune disease of unknown origin, the exact aetiology of the disease is not understood, but environmental and genetic factors interact to trigger an immune response resulting in excessive production of pathogenic autoantibodies by B cells and cytokine dysregulation (Ameer et al, 2022).

The four main types of lupus are neonatal and paediatric lupus erythematosus (NLE); discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE); drug-induced lupus (DIL); and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Approximately 50 000 people in the UK currently have lupus. It commonly affects women of childbearing age with a ratio of 9 women to 1 man diagnosed (LUPUS UK, 2024). Lupus is more prevalent in people with African, south Asian and Chinese heritage (McCarty et al, 1995).

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