Additional Facts About Lupus
Here are some other important facts about lupus that you should know:
- Lupus is Not Contagious Lupus is a non-contagious disease. In other words, you cannot catch the disease from someone who has it, and even if you have lupus, you won’t transmit it to others, even to a spouse. However, in rare cases, women with lupus may give birth to children who have a form of lupus.
- No Link Between Lupus and Cancer Lupus and cancer are entirely different diseases, with no connection between them. While cancer develops from malignant cells that grow and spread rapidly in surrounding tissues, lupus is an autoimmune disease, as mentioned earlier. However, treatments for both diseases may overlap, such as the use of immunosuppressive drugs found in chemotherapy for cancer patients, which are also used in lupus treatment.
- No Link Between Lupus and HIV/AIDS There is no relationship between lupus and HIV/AIDS. In HIV/AIDS, the immune system is weakened and nearly inactive, whereas in lupus, the immune system is overactive, producing antibodies that attack both harmful and harmless substances.
- Varied Severity of Lupus Lupus can range from mild to life-threatening. However, with appropriate treatment, many lupus patients lead normal lives.
- At-Risk Groups Lupus is most commonly found in women of childbearing age, but it can also affect men, children, and teenagers. Typically, the disease manifests in people aged 15 to 44 years. Lupus does not discriminate by race, but the incidence is higher among women of non-Caucasian descent compared to Caucasian women.