Systemic lupus erythematosus (also called lupus, or SLE) is a disease in which a person's immune system attacks and injures the body's own organs and tissues. Almost every system of the body can be affected by SLE.

The body's immune system is a network of cells and tissues responsible for fighting off invading foreign organisms such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi. Antibodies are special immune cells that recognize these foreign invaders, and begin a chain of events to destroy them. In an autoimmune disorder like SLE, a person's antibodies begin to recognize the body's own tissues as foreign, causing inflammation of the tissues. In SLE, some of the common antibodies that normally fight diseases are thought to be out of control, and begin to attack the cell's central structure that contains genetic material.

SLE can occur in both men and women of all ages...