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An in-depth report on the causes, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of lupus.
Lupus
SLE symptoms may develop slowly over months or years, or they may appear suddenly. Symptoms tend to be worse during winter months, perhaps because prolonged exposure to sunlight in the summer causes a gradual build-up of factors that trigger symptoms months later.
The most common symptom is joint pain, which occurs in about 90% of patients with SLE. Characteristics of this symptom vary widely:
Children may experience these symptoms as growing pains, and, in all patients, they may be the only symptoms for many years.
Fever occurs in 90% of patients with SLE and is usually caused by the inflammatory process of the disease, not by infection. It is low-grade except during an acute lupus crisis.
Three-quarters of patients with SLE have skin inflammation and skin lesions (ulcers, rashes, or other injured areas). About half of these lesions are photosensitive; that is, they are aggravated by ultraviolet (UV) radiation from sunlight, even from light coming through a window. (UV radiation may even trigger systemic flares in patients with SLE.)
A number of different skin conditions have been described in patients with SLE.
Discoid Lupus Erythematosus. About 20% of patients have discoid lesions. In such cases, the condition is often known as discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE). Patients with this condition may have the following skin abnormalities:
Most patients with this condition have only a limited skin disorder. In only about 10% of cases does discoid lupus develop into full-blown SLE.
Subacute Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus. Subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus (SCLE) can cause skin lesions on parts of the body that are exposed to sunlight. These lesions do not cause scarring.
Vasculitis . Patients with SLE sometimes develop inflammation in the blood vessels (vasculitis) that may have the following effects on the skin:
Other symptoms include:
Hair loss or breakage may also occur in about half of patients with SLE during severe flares or after pregnancy or severe illness. In such cases, hair grows back.
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