However, lupus can also affect the skin. Lupus is often described as an auto-immune disease. This produces inflammation in different parts of the body resulting in pain and swelling. Lupus is a chronic disease which means that it lasts a long time. However, different symptoms of the disease may come and go.
Some people have remissions which last for several vears.
Lupus is usuallv a mild disease which occasionally leads to serious problems. Most people with lupus can live a normal life providing they take sensible precautions and control the worst aspects of the disease through proper treatment. In New Zealand lupus is 3 - 4 times more common amongst New Zealand Maori and Pacific Island peoples. The simple answer to that is we don't know. Some people seem to inherit the tendency to get a disease like lupus.