Lupus and Overlap Diseases

DOWNLOADS:

SLE Handout on Health

About Lupus:
Lupus Guide Booklet

Raynaud's Phenomenon

Sjogren's Syndrome

LUPUS and OVERLAP

Lupus and Overlap (Taken from Lupus.org)
Connective Tissue Disease And Overlap Syndromes

The connective tissue diseases are a family of closely related disorders.
They include: rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE or lupus), polymyositis-dermatomyositis (PM-DM), systemic sclerosis (SSc
or scleroderma), Sjogren's Syndrome (SS), Antiphosphilipid Syndrome, Raynaud's Phenomenon, Fibromyalgia, Osteoarthritis, Osteoporosis, mixed connective tissue diseases and various forms of vasculitis. Other overlap diseases are Tinnitus,
Hyperacusis, Livedo Reticularis, AIED, Hearing Loss

These diseases have a number of common features:

They affect women much more frequently than men. They are "multisystem" diseases, capable of affecting the function of many organs. They "overlap" with one another, sharing certain clinical symptoms, signs, and laboratory abnormalities. Blood vessels are the most common target of injury in all of these diseases. The immune system is abnormal and accounts, at least in part, for the observed tissue damage. Although lupus most often occurs alone, many people with lupus also have symptoms characteristic of one or more of the other connective tissue diseases. In this circumstance, a physician may use the term "overlap" to describe the illness. There are several well-recognized overlaps that may affect people with lupus.

Someone You Know Has Lupus

Heredity And Overlap

SLE is thought to be a genetically complex disease. Click here for more information on Lupus Genetics.

It is unusual (less than 10 percent of the time) for a person with lupus to have a close family member (parent, child, brother, or sister) who also suffers from lupus. However, it is common for persons with lupus to have relatives (including grandparents, aunts/uncles, cousins) with other connective tissue diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, Sjogren's Syndrome, scleroderma, etc. These co-occurrences raise the possibility that heredity may be a factor in all of the connective tissue diseases. Most scientists agree that important hereditary associations with these diseases are present in some families. Additional research is needed to shed light on this important question.

Click here to continue