Lupus: Nondietary and Dietary Factors

DEFINITION "Lupus" is Latin for wolf, and "erythematosus" refers to the red rash on a person's face that makes them look wolf-like. Lupus erythematosus is a chronic, inflammatory auto-immune disease that is more common than muscular dystrophy, cystic fibrosis, leukemia, or multiple sclerosis. It is difficult to say what causes lupus, because autoimmune diseases are multifactorial with genetic, environmental, hormonal, viral, and psychoneurological influences all playing a role. Normally, the immune system protects a person from infection and disease by producing antibodies that attack foreign substances such as bacteria and viruses. In lupus, the body's antibodies attack itself (collagen tissue) resulting in inflammation.