No one really knows what causes lupus, but it isn’t contagious, which means you can’t catch it from someone who has it.
Scientists think that some people may be more likely to get it because of things they can’t control like:

 being a girl [girls and women get lupus more often than boys and men]

being a certain race [African-, Asian-, Latin- and Native American people are more likely to get lupus than white people]

having a gene or genes that makes you more likely to get lupus [about 10% of people
with lupus have a family member with the disease]

Sometimes intense stress or infection can be the trigger, but neither one actually causes the illness.
But if a person’s genes make him or her more likely to get lupus, extreme stress or an infection may cause the disease to first show up.

Your body has its own system for fighting off sickness called the immune system,
but sometimes it doesn’t work correctly.
When this happens, a person may have an autoimmune e[say: aw-toe-ih-myoon] disease.
 Lupus [say:loo-pus] is one of those diseases.

A healthy immune system is like an army that can protect you against germs and illness.
It makes antibodies [say: an-tih-bah-deez], which are special chemicals that fight infections.
But with a disease like lupus, the army gets confused and begins attacking the healthy cells in your body.
It does this by making autoantibodies [say: aw-toe-an-tih-bod eez], which are antibodies that attack the body’s normal cells.

People with lupus may not look sick, but they may fell run down, weak, or nauseated.
Their joints may hurt and they may have swollen glands.

There are three types of lupus:

(1)  Systemic lupus erythematosus [say: si-stem-ik-loo-pus eruh-thee-muh-toh-sus] is also
 called SLE and is the type that most people mean when they talk about lupus.
 It’s the most serious form of lupus. SLE can affect the skin, joints, tendons, and
other body organs like the brain, heart, lungs and kidneys.

 

(2)  Discoid lupus [say: dis-koyd loo-pus ] is a skin disease that causes a rash on the face, neck, scalp and ears.
It’s a much rarer form of lupus than SLE. It doesn’t affect other organs the way SLE can, but the rash can leave scars.
Some people with discoid lupus get SLE later on.

(3) Drug induced lupus is caused by a reaction to some kind of medicines.
Drug induced lupus affects the body in many of the same ways that SLE does.
Once a person stops taking the medication the symptoms often go away.

Eating well and exercising regularly can also help a person avoid a flare and its good advice for any child.

When it comes to staying healthy, sometimes what kids with lupus don’t do can be
just as important as what they do. Rheumatologists recommend that people with lupus not spend
time in the sun unless they wear lots of sunscreen and protective clothing  
because ultraviolet rays may bring on a flare.
Smoking, drinking and drugs are also really bad ideas for children with lupus,
as they are for anyone.

With the right medication and healthy habits, children with lupus can go to school,
take part in activities, play sports and stuff with their friends.

If you have a friend or classmate who has lupus, he or she may not feel well sometimes or
may miss some days of school. It’s great if you can be understanding.
That should be easier for you now that you know a little more about lupus

Once a child has been diagnosed with lupus,
the pediatrics rheumatologist will decide on a treatment plan.
The treatment depends on how severe the lupus is and
what parts of the body are affected.
Almost all children with SLE take some kind of medicine to control their lupus.
Children whose joints hurt often take acetaminophen [like Tylenol] or ibuprofen [like Advil].
Other children take antimalarial [say: an-tee-muh-lair-ee-ul]
drugs to help treat skin rashes and joint pain.
 [Antimalarial drugs are usually used to treat the disease malaria,
but have also been found to work against lupus.]

Some children take steroids (not the kind some bodybuilders and athletes take),
which are medications that help some of the symptoms of lupus.
If lupus affects a child’s kidneys or other organs,
there are immunosuppressive (say: im-yeh-no-suh-pres-iv) drugs that may be used.
These are strong drugs that help hold back the activity of the immune system.