Causes

What Causes Lupus?

No one knows what causes lupus. However, scientists believe that hormones, genetics (heredity), and environment are all involved.

Hormones regulate many of the body’s functions. In particular, the sex hormone estrogen plays a role in lupus. Men and women both produce estrogen, but estrogen production is much greater in females. However, it does not mean that estrogen, or any other hormone for that matter, causes lupus.

While no gene or group of genes has been proven to cause lupus, the disease does appear in certain families. And, although lupus can develop in people with no lupus in their family history, there are likely to be other autoimmune diseases in some family members. Certain ethnic groups (people of African, Asian, Hispanic/Latino, American Indian, or Pacific Island descent) have a greater risk of developing lupus, which may also be related to genes they have in common.

Your genes may increase the chance that you will develop lupus, but scientists believe it takes some kind of environmental trigger to set off the illness or to bring on a flare, such as:

• ultraviolet rays from the sun or from fluorescent light bulbs
• sulfa drugs, which make a person more sensitive to the sun
• penicillin or certain other antibiotic drugs
• some tetracycline drugs
• infection
• a cold or a viral illness
• exhaustion
• injury
• emotional stress
• anything that causes stress to the body, like surgery, an accident, or pregnancy

Other seemingly unrelated factors can trigger your onset of lupus. Scientists have noted some common triggers among many people who have lupus, including exposure to the sun, an infection, a medication taken to treat an illness, being pregnant, and giving birth.

Source: Lupus.org