Depending on what the disease is affecting the person, if it attacks the kidneys or heart or really any number of areas of the body yes it can be fatal, especially if one doesn't seek medical attention, and by all means try to follow your Drs. Treatment plan, as that in any health situation is the best way to keep one as healthy as possible, I have been living with Lupus(SLE) for yrs now, I was diagnosed in 1999, but had been having several problems for almost 4 yrs prior to the Dr. Finally being able to diagnose what I had, and I have had many ups and downs, and it got severe enough that I finally could not work any longer, and even with me not working you would think that I would be in pretty good health but I have actually suffered from a few different issues over the past 4 yrs, one of which could have definitley been fatal had I not been seeing my Dr. On a regular basis and having my blood work done as prescribed by my Dr., so as with any thing regarding your health, you have to follow your Drs advice, if you don't feel that the Dr. You are seeing is medically doing for you what you think they should be, or you are just not satisfied with them at all, please seek a second opinion, as Lupus is not to be taken lightly, even though it may be the mildest case, you need to be sure it possibly stays at the mildest I hope this has helped and I have not said anything to scare anybody, but from personnel experience I have found that by not following Drs. Orders it could hurt a whole lot more than help.
Lupus is a disease that affects people in different ways and produces a collection of symptoms. It is thought to be the result of a disruption in the immune system whereby the body starts to see its own tissues and organs as' foreign' and dangerous and starts to attack them. This reaction is known as autoimmunity, or an autoimmune disease.
People are usually affected by lupus between the ages of 15 and 45, although lupus symptoms can appear in younger and older people. The disease can affect just the skin – in which case it is called discoid or cutaneous lupus – or it can affect the internal organs of the body as well. This type of the disease is called systemic lupus, and it tends to be far more severe.
These two types of lupus appear spontaneously but lupus can also develop as a direct result of a course of drug treatment. More rarely, it can occur in new born babies, who are passed antibodies by their mother through the placenta. The baby generally recovers within about 6 months and then shows no further lupus symptoms.
Lupus is a disease where the body's immune system goes over the top and starts to attack its own tissues. There are many environmental triggers that seem to be involved but there is also evidence that a person's genes also play a role. Why one person responses to triggers whereas another person does not, is likely to have a genetic reason.
Researchers have found that mice have a gene called Ly108 that, if present, makes the more likely to develop lupus like symptoms. There is a human form of this gene and researchers are investigating whether it might be involved in human lupus.
Other researchers have found two gene markers that are linked to lupus flare ups. One is interleukin 8. When this gene is in a particularly active stage, then flare ups are likely to happen. Finding out how to block the activity of this gene could help researchers to devise a treatment to reduce the symptoms seen in lupus flare ups.
Any of several forms of ulcerative skin disease can be termed as lupus. Lupus is not a very simple disease with some easy and understandable answers. Lupus is actually an autoimmune disease. The body's immune system is just like an army with so many soldiers. The main function of an immune system is to fight foreign substances in the body, such as germs and the viruses. But in autoimmune diseases (Any of a large group of diseases characterized by abnormal functioning of the immune system that causes your immune system to produce antibodies against your own tissues), the immune system is just out of control. It only attacks the healthy tissues but not the germs.
Lupus is one of the diseases that can affect many parts of the body. Every body reacts in different ways to it. One person with lupus might have swollen knees plus fever. Some other person might be tired all the time or might have some kidney trouble. Someone else might have rashes on all of his body. There are three main types of lupus and they are Systemic lupus erythematosus, Discoid lupus erythematosus and the Drug-induced lupus. If one has this lupus, it might affect two or three parts of one's body. In most of the situations, one person doesn't have all the possible symptoms.
Lupus disease would usually imply Systemic lupus erythematosus (that is, SLE or lupus) which is basically a chronic autoimmune disease. This disease causes Lupus nephritis which is an inflammation observed of the kidney.
SLE is a potentially debilitating condition which in some cases is fatal since the immune system itself assails the body's cells and tissue, consequentially leading to inflammation and tissue damage. Note that SLE can involve any single part of your body. It gets the term autoimmune since literally, our immune activity gets directed against ourselves.
Unfortunately, for Lupus, there is no cure. The course Lupus can take is not predictable, and there are periods of illness (known as flares) which alternate with remission.
I agree fully everything you have said and more it is a horrible disease ,from 1 day till the next you just don't know most the time I feel like excuse me but I feel like shit,tired achy,sometimes just want to give up.
