What is Lupus?

Lupus is primarily classified as an autoimmune disease, which means that it occurs when the body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue. This condition can affect various systems in the body, including the skin, joints, kidneys, and other organs, leading to a range of symptoms that can be both acute and chronic.

In lupus, the immune response becomes dysregulated, producing autoantibodies that target the body's own cells, resulting in inflammation and damage. This immune system malfunction is a hallmark of autoimmune diseases and distinguishes lupus from other types of medical conditions such as infections or inflammatory diseases that do not originate from the immune system's misbehavior.

Although lupus can cause skin manifestations and inflammatory responses, these characteristics do not define it as a skin infection or merely a chronic inflammatory disease, and it is certainly not a viral infection. Hence, the classification of lupus as an autoimmune disease provides the most accurate understanding of its mechanisms and implications for treatment and management.