Signs and Symptoms
Before a lupus diagnosis is made, patients may experience several common signs and symptoms, many unique to the four basic forms of lupus. Many patients and doctors never recognize the symptoms of lupus.
Skin conditions are a known part of what a person with lupus must regularly deal with. While lupus is known to affect the joints, kidneys, heart and lungs, more often than not, one of the clearest signs that a person has developed the disease is the way it affects the skin. These abnormal skin areas are referred to as skin – or cutaneous – disease.
Alopecia is the medical term for hair loss, and nearly 45 percent of people with lupus will experience some form of alopecia.
How does lupus affect the skin? Skin conditions are a known part of what a person with lupus must regularly deal with. While lupus is known to affect the joints, kidneys, heart and lungs, more often than not, one of the clearest signs that a person has developed the disease is the way it affects the skin. These abnormal skin areas are referred to as skin – or cutaneous – disease.
The occasional feeling of forgetfulness and struggle to remember what should be simple tasks could be lupus fog, a condition familiar with lupus veterans, but sometimes a surprise for those newly diagnosed with the autoimmune disease.
Lupus is a mysterious disease, one with a multitude of smaller signs and symptoms that are often overlooked or misinterpreted as a harbinger of a different disease, leading to misdiagnosis. But when one of the most common symptoms is accompanied by a more suggestive sign or complication, lupus starts to become clear.
People who are affected with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), or more commonly lupus, often discover that they are also highly photosensitive, or sensitive to sunlight. This sensitivity often results in skin rashes and other skin conditions caused by sunlight. If left unchecked, this condition could lead to skin cancer. Lupus patients are thus instructed to take care of their skin and stay out of the sun.
