Reporters' Resources
LFA Media Relations Contacts
- Maggie Maloney
- 202-212-6766, maloney@lupus.org
- Duane Peters
202-349-1145, peters@lupus.org
About the disease
Lupus is a chronic, autoimmune disease that occurs when the immune system is out of balance, which causes it to become destructive to any tissue or organ in the body, including the skin, joints, blood, blood vessels, and/or organs inside the body, especially the heart, lungs, kidneys, and brain.
Normally, the immune system produces proteins called antibodies that protect the body from foreign substances, such as bacteria, viruses, and other foreign material called antigens. With lupus, the immune system cannot tell the difference between these foreign substances and the body's own tissue and creates autoantibodies ("auto" means "self") which target the body's own tissue. These autoantibodies cause inflammation, pain, and damage in various parts of the body.
Lupus is a disease of flares (when the symptoms worsen and patients feel ill) and remissions (when the symptoms improve and patients feel better). Lupus can range from mild to life-threatening and should always be treated by a doctor. Two leading causes of morbidity (illness) and mortality (death) from lupus are kidney disease and heart disease. Lupus is complex, unpredictable, and potentially fatal. Lupus is NOT a form of cancer, arthritis or AIDS.
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Impact of lupus
The Lupus Foundation of America (LFA) estimates that 1,500,000 Americans have a form lupus. This estimate is based on four nationwide polls which asked respondents if they, or anyone in their immediate household, had ever been diagnosed with lupus by a doctor.
Nine of 10 people with lupus are female, and eight of ten new cases of the disease develop among women of childbearing age (ages 15 - 45). Lupus is two to three times more common among women of color -- African Americans, Hispanics and Latinos, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Asians, and Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders -- than it is among Caucasian women.
An LFA membership survey found that one in three people with lupus also had another autoimmune disease themselves, and nearly half of all those surveyed had a close relative with lupus. Lupus and other autoimmune diseases often run in families.
Lupus is the prototypical autoimmune disease. Autoimmune diseases are the fourth leading cause of disability among women.
- Approximately 35% of people with lupus who responded to a LFA survey said they received disability benefits in the past, and 28% are presently receiving disability benefits, with the majority receiving government-sponsored payments (such as Social Security Disability).
- Another 38% of those surveyed have stopped working due to health complications of lupus.
- Tragically, most of the individuals disabled by lupus are impacted at a young age, which means they likely will be on disability for many years.
According to a study reported in October 2008, the average annual direct health care cost of patients with lupus is estimated to be $12,643. The study's authors also determined that the mean annual productivity costs (lost hours of productive work) for participants of employment age (between the ages of 18 and 65) was $8,659. Thus, the mean annual total costs (combining direct costs and productivity costs for subjects of employment age) was $20,924, which translates to an estimated $31.4 billion annually for direct and indirect costs related to lupus. The physical, emotional and economic impact of lupus is staggering.