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Lupus is an autoimmune disease. This means that your immune system attacks healthy cells and tissues by mistake. This can damage many parts of the body, including the joints, skin, kidneys, heart, lungs, blood vessels, and brain.

There are several kinds of lupus:

• Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is the most common type. It can be mild or severe and can affect many parts of the body.
• Discoid lupus causes a red rash that doesn't go away
• Subacute cutaneous lupus causes sores after being out in the sun
• Drug-induced lupus is caused by certain medicines. It usually goes away when you stop taking the medicine.
• Neonatal lupus, which is rare, affects newborns. It is probably caused by certain antibodies from the mother.

The cause of lupus is unknown.

Anyone can get lupus, but women are most at risk. Lupus is two to three times more common in African American women than in white women. It's also more common in Hispanic, Asian, and Native American women. African American and Hispanic women are more likely to have severe forms of lupus.

Lupus can have many symptoms, and they differ from person to person. Some of the more common ones are:

• Pain or swelling in joints
• Muscle pain
• Fever with no known cause
• Red rashes, most often on the face (also called the "butterfly rash")
• Chest pain when taking a deep breath
• Hair loss
• Pale or purple fingers or toes
• Sensitivity to the sun
• Swelling in legs or around eyes
• Mouth ulcers
• Swollen glands
• Feeling very tired

Symptoms may come and go. When you are having symptoms, it is called a flare. Flares can range from mild to severe. New symptoms may appear at any time.

There is no specific test for lupus, and it's often mistaken for other diseases. So it may take months or years for a doctor to diagnose it. Your doctor may use many tools to make a diagnosis:

• Medical history
• Complete exam
• Blood tests
• Skin biopsy (looking at skin samples under a microscope)
• Kidney biopsy (looking at tissue from your kidney under a microscope)

There is no cure for lupus, but medicines and lifestyle changes can help control it.

People with lupus often need to see different doctors. You will have a primary care doctor and a rheumatologist (a doctor who specializes in the diseases of joints and muscles). Which other specialists you see depends on how lupus affects your body. For example, if lupus damages your heart or blood vessels, you would see a cardiologist.

Your primary care doctor should coordinate care between your different health care providers and treat other problems as they come up. Your doctor will develop a treatment plan to fit your needs. You and your doctor should review the plan often to be sure it is working. You should report new symptoms to your doctor right away so that your treatment plan can be changed if needed.

The goals of the treatment plan are to:

• Prevent flares
• Treat flares when they occur
• Reduce organ damage and other problems

Treatments may include drugs to:

• Reduce swelling and pain
• Prevent or reduce flares
• Help the immune system
• Reduce or prevent damage to joints
• Balance the hormones

Besides taking medicines for lupus, you may need to take medicines for problems that are related to lupus such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or infection.

Alternative treatments are those that are not part of standard treatment. At this time, no research shows that alternative medicine can treat lupus. Some alternative or complementary approaches may help you cope or reduce some of the stress associated with living with a chronic illness. You should talk to your doctor before trying any alternative treatments.

It is important to take an active role in your treatment. It helps to learn more about lupus - being able to spot the warning signs of a flare can help you prevent the flare or make the symptoms less severe.

It is also important to find ways to cope with the stress of having lupus. Exercising and finding ways to relax may make it easier for you to cope. A good support system can also help.

NIH: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases

Your joints are places where two or more bones come together. Your shoulders, elbows, hips, knees, and knuckles are all joints. Your spine has joints, too.

But joints are more than bones. They include the soft tissues around them, such as cartilage, tendons and ligaments. Cartilage is the hard slippery flexible tissue that covers the ends of your bones at a joint. Tendons are tough, flexible bands that connect your muscles to your bones so you can move your joints. Ligaments connect the bones of the joint to each other to keep them stable when you move.

Joint disorders are diseases or injuries that affect your joints. Injuries can happen because of overuse of a joint. Or you could have a sudden injury, such as an accident or a sports injury.

Many diseases can affect the joints. They often cause joint pain and make your joints stiff, red, or swollen. Most of them are chronic. That means they last a long time. Some may never go away completely. Some of the diseases that affect the joints include:

• Arthritis. Arthritis may cause joint pain and swelling. There are many types of this disease. Osteoarthritis is the most common type. Over time, arthritis can cause severe joint damage. It can affect people of all ages. A joint injury when you're young may cause osteoarthritis later in life.
• Lupus. This autoimmune disease affects many parts of the body and can cause joint and muscle pain. Some types of lupus often cause arthritis.
• Sjögren's Syndrome. This autoimmune disease affects glands that make moisture in many parts of the body. The main symptoms are dry eyes and mouth, but it often causes joint pain, too.

Treatments are different depending on the disease. But most treatments include medicines and therapies to relieve pain and other symptoms.

Joint disorders from sudden injuries include:

• Sprains and strains. Sprains are stretched or torn ligaments. Acute strains are stretched or torn muscles or tendons that happen from a sudden injury or movement, such as lifting a heavy object.
• Dislocated joints. A joint is dislocated when the bones are pushed or pulled out of position. A joint dislocation is a medical emergency.

Treatment depends on the type of injury. You can treat many sports injuries at home. But you should call your health care provider if you:

• Have a lot of joint pain, swelling or numbness
• Can't put weight on the joint
• Have pain from an old injury with more swelling, an unstable joint, or a joint that isn't normal in another way

Overuse injuries usually damage the soft tissues of the joint. They can happen when you work a joint too hard by doing the same movements over and over. For example, you could get an overuse injury from playing a musical instrument, playing sports, or doing certain jobs, such as carpentry or painting.

Joint overuse injuries include:

• Bursitis. The bursa is a small fluid-filled sac. It works as a pad between the bones of a joint and the moving parts around it, such as muscles, tendons and skin. With bursitis, the bursa becomes irritated and swollen with extra fluid. Overuse is the most common cause, but injuries, infections and other conditions, such as arthritis, can cause bursitis.
• Tendinitis. This condition happens when you overuse a tendon. It swells and makes the joint painful to move.
• Chronic strain. A strain becomes chronic when your muscles or tendons stretch or tear slowly over time from repeating the same movements.

The treatments for bursitis, tendinitis, and chronic strain are often the same. They usually include rest, keeping the injured joint higher than your heart, and taking medicine to reduce swelling. Your provider may recommend gentle exercise and other treatment. In some cases, your provider may suggest an injection (a shot) of medicine into the joint. If these do not help, you may need surgery.

Getting enough physical activity is one of the most important things you can do to prevent or slow joint disorders. Activity strengthens the muscles around your joints and helps them work better.

When you play sports, wear the right equipment to protect your joints, such as knee pads. If you already have joint problems, ask your provider what type of activities are best for you.

NIH: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases

Every racial or ethnic group has specific health concerns. Differences in the health of groups can result from:

• Genetics
• Environmental factors
• Access to care
• Cultural factors

On this page, you'll find links to health issues that affect Asian Americans.

Your blood is living tissue made up of liquid and solids. The liquid part, called plasma, is made of water, salts and protein. Over half of your blood is plasma. The solid part of your blood contains red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets.

Blood disorders affect one or more parts of the blood and prevent your blood from doing its job. They can be acute or chronic. Many blood disorders are inherited. Other causes include other diseases, side effects of medicines, and a lack of certain nutrients in your diet.

Types of blood disorders include:

• Platelet disorders, excessive clotting, and bleeding problems, which affect how your blood clots
• Anemia, which happens when your blood does not carry enough oxygen to the rest of your body
• Cancers of the blood, such as leukemia and myeloma
• Eosinophilic disorders, which are problems with one type of white blood cell.

Your connective tissue supports many different parts of your body, such as your skin, eyes, and heart. It is like a "cellular glue" that gives your body parts their shape and helps keep them strong. It also helps some of your tissues do their work. It is made of many kinds of proteins. Cartilage and fat are types of connective tissue.

Over 200 disorders that impact connective tissue. There are different types:

• Genetic disorders, such as Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, Marfan syndrome, and osteogenesis imperfecta
• Autoimmune disorders, such as lupus and scleroderma
• Cancers, like some types of soft tissue sarcoma

Each disorder has its own symptoms and needs different treatment.

NIH: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases

Depression is a serious medical illness. It's more than just a feeling of being sad or "blue" for a few days. If you are one of the more than 19 million teens and adults in the United States who have depression, the feelings do not go away. They persist and interfere with your everyday life. Symptoms can include:

• Feeling sad or "empty"
• Loss of interest in favorite activities
• Overeating, or not wanting to eat at all
• Not being able to sleep, or sleeping too much
• Feeling very tired
• Feeling hopeless, irritable, anxious, or guilty
• Aches or pains, headaches, cramps, or digestive problems
• Thoughts of death or suicide

Depression is a disorder of the brain. There are a variety of causes, including genetic, biological, environmental, and psychological factors. Depression can happen at any age, but it often begins in teens and young adults. It is much more common in women. Women can also get postpartum depression after the birth of a baby. Some people get seasonal affective disorder in the winter. Depression is one part of bipolar disorder.

There are effective treatments for depression, including antidepressants, talk therapy, or both.

NIH: National Institute of Mental Health

Fibromyalgia is chronic (long-lasting) condition that causes pain all over the body, fatigue, and other symptoms. There is no cure, but treatments can help with the symptoms.

The exact cause of fibromyalgia is unknown. Studies of the brains of people with fibromyalgia found that they seem to process pain differently than people who don't have it. They may feel pain when others do not, and they may also have a more severe reaction to pain.

Fibromyalgia can run in families, so genetics may also play a role. Other factors may also be involved, such as having certain diseases that cause pain.

Anyone can get fibromyalgia, but it is more common in:

• Women; they are twice as likely to have fibromyalgia
• Middle-aged people; your chance of having it increases as you get older
• People with certain diseases, such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis or ankylosing spondylitis
• People who have a family member with fibromyalgia

The main symptoms of fibromyalgia are:

• Chronic (long-lasting) pain and stiffness all over the body. People often describe it as aching, burning, or throbbing.
• Fatigue and tiredness.
• Trouble sleeping.

Other symptoms may include:

• Problems with thinking, memory, and concentration (sometimes called "fibro fog")
• Muscle and joint stiffness
• Numbness or tingling in the arms and legs
• Sensitivity to light, noise, odors, and temperature

People who have fibromyalgia are also more likely to have certain diseases, including:

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Headaches, including migraines
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Pain in the face or jaw, including disorders of the jaw know as temporomandibular joint syndrome (TMJ)

Fibromyalgia can be hard to diagnose. It sometimes takes visits to several different health care providers to get a diagnosis. One problem is that there isn't a specific test for it. And the main symptoms, pain and fatigue, are common in many other conditions. Providers have to rule out other causes of the symptoms before making a diagnosis of fibromyalgia. This is called making a differential diagnosis.

To find out if you have fibromyalgia, your provider:

• Will take your medical history, including asking detailed questions about your symptoms
• Will do a physical exam
• May order x-rays and blood tests to rule out other conditions

Not all providers are familiar with fibromyalgia and its treatment. You should see a provider or team of providers who specialize in the treatment of fibromyalgia.

There is no cure for fibromyalgia, so treatment focuses on relieving the symptoms. Providers usually use a combination of treatments, including medicines, lifestyle changes, talk therapy, and complementary therapies:

• Medicines
• Certain antidepressants and anti-seizure medicines, which may help with pain or sleep problems.
• Pain relievers.
• Lifestyle changes
• Getting enough sleep.
• Getting regular physical activity. If you have not already been active, start slowly and gradually increase how much activity you get. You may want to see a physical therapist, who can help you create a plan that is right for you.
• Learning how to manage stress.
• Learning to pace yourself. If you do too much, it can make your symptoms worse. So you need to learn to balance being active with your need for rest.
• Talk therapy, such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), can help you learn strategies to deal with pain, stress, and negative thoughts. If you also have depression along with your fibromyalgia, talk therapy can help with that too.
• Complementary therapies have helped some people with the symptoms of fibromyalgia. But researchers need to do more studies to show which ones are effective. You could consider trying them, but you should check with your provider first. These therapies include:
• Mindfulness meditation.
• Biofeedback, which uses electronic devices to measure body functions such as breathing and heart rate. This teaches you to be more aware of your body functions so you can learn to control them.
• Movement therapies such as yoga and tai chi.
• Massage therapy.
• Acupuncture.

You lose up to 100 hairs from your scalp every day. That's normal, and in most people, those hairs grow back. But many men -- and some women -- lose hair as they grow older. You can also lose your hair if you have certain diseases, such as thyroid problems, diabetes, or lupus. If you take certain medicines or have chemotherapy for cancer, you may also lose your hair. Other causes are stress, a low protein diet, a family history, or poor nutrition.

Treatment for hair loss depends on the cause. In some cases, treating the underlying cause will correct the problem. Other treatments include medicines and hair restoration.

Every pregnancy has some risk of problems, but there are certain conditions and health issues that can raise that risk, such as:

• A health condition you had before you got pregnant
• A health condition you develop during pregnancy
• A pregnancy with more than one baby
• A health problem that happened during a previous pregnancy and could happen again
• Substance use during pregnancy
• Being over age 35

Any of these can affect your health, the health of your baby, or both.

If you have a chronic condition, you should talk to your health care provider about how to minimize your risk before you get pregnant. Once you are pregnant, you may need a health care team to monitor your pregnancy. Some common conditions that can complicate a pregnancy include:

• High blood pressure
• Kidney problems
• Autoimmune diseases
• Obesity
• HIV
• Cancer
• Infections

Other conditions that may make pregnancy risky can develop during pregnancy - for example, gestational diabetes and Rh incompatibility. Good prenatal care can help detect and treat them.

Some symptoms, such as nausea, back pain, and fatigue, are common during pregnancy. Sometimes it is hard to know what is normal. Call your health care provider if something is bothering or worrying you.

Blood pressure is the force of your blood pushing against the walls of your arteries as your heart pumps blood. High blood pressure, or hypertension, is when this force against your artery walls is too high. There are different types of high blood pressure in pregnancy:

• Gestational hypertension is high blood pressure that you develop while you are pregnant. It starts after you are 20 weeks pregnant. You usually don't have any other symptoms. In many cases, it does not harm you or your baby, and it goes away within 12 weeks after childbirth. But it does raise your risk of high blood pressure in the future. It sometimes can be severe, which may lead to low birth weight or preterm birth. Some women with gestational hypertension do go on to develop preeclampsia.
• Chronic hypertension is high blood pressure that started before the 20th week of pregnancy or before you became pregnant. Some women may have had it long before becoming pregnant but didn't know it until they got their blood pressure checked at their prenatal visit. Sometimes chronic hypertension can also lead to preeclampsia.
• Preeclampsia is a sudden increase in blood pressure after the 20th week of pregnancy. It usually happens in the last trimester. In rare cases, symptoms may not start until after delivery. This is called postpartum preeclampsia. Preeclampsia also includes signs of damage to some of your organs, such as your liver or kidney. The signs may include protein in the urine and very high blood pressure. Preeclampsia can be serious or even life-threatening for both you and your baby.

The cause of preeclampsia is unknown.

You are at higher risk of preeclampsia if you:

• Had chronic high blood pressure or chronic kidney disease before pregnancy
• Had high blood pressure or preeclampsia in a previous pregnancy
• Have obesity
• Are over age 40
• Are pregnant with more than one baby
• Are African American
• Have a family history of preeclampsia
• Have certain health conditions, such as diabetes, lupus, or thrombophilia (a disorder which raises your risk of blood clots)
• Used in vitro fertilization, egg donation, or donor insemination

Preeclampsia can cause:

• Placental abruption, where the placenta separates from the uterus
• Poor fetal growth, caused by a lack of nutrients and oxygen
• Preterm birth
• A low birth weight baby
• Stillbirth
• Damage to your kidneys, liver, brain, and other organ and blood systems
• A higher risk of heart disease for you
• Eclampsia, which happens when preeclampsia is severe enough to affect brain function, causing seizures or coma
• HELLP syndrome, which happens when a woman with preeclampsia or eclampsia has damage to the liver and blood cells. It is rare, but very serious.

Possible symptoms of preeclampsia include:

• High blood pressure
• Too much protein in your urine (called proteinuria)
• Swelling in your face and hands. Your feet may also swell, but many women have swollen feet during pregnancy. So swollen feet by themselves may not be a sign of a problem.
• Headache that does not go away
• Vision problems, including blurred vision or seeing spots
• Pain in your upper right abdomen
• Trouble breathing

Eclampsia can also cause seizures, nausea and/or vomiting, and low urine output. If you go on to develop HELLP syndrome, you may also have bleeding or bruising easily, extreme fatigue, and liver failure.

Your health care provider will check your blood pressure and urine at each prenatal visit. If your blood pressure reading is high (140/90 or higher), especially after the 20th week of pregnancy, your provider will likely want to run some tests. They may include blood tests other lab tests to look for extra protein in the urine as well as other symptoms.

Delivering the baby can often cure preeclampsia. When making a decision about treatment, your provider take into account several factors. They include how severe it is, how many weeks pregnant you are, and what the potential risks to you and your baby are:

• If you are more than 37 weeks pregnant, your provider will likely want to deliver the baby.
• If you are less than 37 weeks pregnant, your health care provider will closely monitor you and your baby. This includes blood and urine tests for you. Monitoring for the baby often involves ultrasound, heart rate monitoring, and checking on the baby's growth. You may need to take medicines, to control your blood pressure and to prevent seizures. Some women also get steroid injections, to help the baby's lungs mature faster. If the preeclampsia is severe, you provider may want you to deliver the baby early.

The symptoms usually go away within 6 weeks of delivery. In rare cases, symptoms may not go away, or they may not start until after delivery (postpartum preeclampsia). This can be very serious, and it needs to be treated right away.