What is lupus disease?

Answer 1

Nephritis is a condition of the kidneys that is acquired due to having lupus. Lupus is an autoimmune disease in which your immune system goes awry and attacks your own tissues. Your immune system can attack your skin and other organs including your kidneys. When this happens you get lupus nephritis. Approximately 50% - 80% of people with lupus will have their kidneys affected during the disease. There are five classes of lupus nephritis from Class I to Class V with Class IV being the most severe form. The less severe forms of nephritis are often treated with anti-inflammatories such as prednisone and the more severe forms are treated with Cytoxan and Cellcept.

Answer 2

Lupus nephritis is the inflammation of the kidneys due to lupus. There are very few symptoms of lupus nephritis. Swelling in the ankles and protein in the urine are some of the symptoms. Sometimes it can only be diagnosed from finding high levels of protein in the urine or by studying the blood work of the patient. Lupus patients generally get regular checkups so it is easy to spot in those patients.

Although not in every case, lupus nephritis can eventually lead to end stage renal disease which requires dialysis. This will eventually lead to complete kidney failure and require a kidney transplant. End stage renal failure is much more common in African Americans with lupus than in the other races. Lupus nephritis is inflammation in the glomeruli or lilttle filters in the kidney. Normal kidneys catch protein and send it back to the blood stream. In lupus nephritis, some of the filters are "clogged" with immune complexes or as the result of complement activity and don't catch the protein. This is why protein in the urine is indicative of lupus nephritis. There are six classes of lupus nephritis according to the World Health Organization. The first is no disease and the sixth is a permanent scarring of the kidneys. The only way to determine which class a patient has is by a kidney biopsy. The WHO class will determine the treatment.

Answer 3

Lupus is an autoimmune disease where the body's immune system becomes hyperactive and attacks normal, healthy tissue.

This results in symptoms such as inflammation, swelling, and damage to joints, skin, kidneys, blood, the heart, and lungs.

Answer 4

Lupus nephritis, or lupus that affects the kidney, occurs in about 40% of systemic lupus cases. Either the immune system mistakenly attacks the kidneys or immune complexes from autoimmune activity elsewhere in the body get deposited in the kidneys, causing inflammation. The result is that the person "spills" protein and cellular casts into the urine. Protein is supposed to be filtered out of the urine and returned to the blood. There are no symptoms of lupus nephritis in the early stages. In progressive stages the patient may have an increase in blood pressure and equal swelling in both lower extremities. Regular urinalysis is the best way to catch lupus nephritis early when it is easiest to treat.

The specific type of lupus nephritis is determined by a kidney biopsy. The type or classification determines the treatment plan.