This causes inflammation. Areas of the skin or joints become painful, red, and swollen. Other parts of the body can also become inflamed including the muscles, kidneys, nervous system, blood, lungs, and heart. SLE is a serious, chronic disease, which means it never goes away completely. This disease is often just called lupus.
Some people have severe, even fatal lupus, but for most people symptoms can be controlled.
Lupus affects mainly young women, particularly black women in the U.S., West Indian women, and Chinese women. The exact cause of lupus is not known. There may be an inherited tendency to develop the disease. Like other autoimmune diseases, attacks of lupus appear to be triggered by particular things, including viral infection and sunlight. Certain drugs may cause some people to have a lupuslike syndrome called drug-induced lupus.