lupus
n. uncountablen. a serious medical condition where your body's defense system attacks your own healthy skin, joints, and organs. It often causes a red rash on the face and makes you feel very tired.
n. a chronic autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks the body's own tissues and organs. Characterised by systemic inflammation and often presenting with a distinctive butterfly-shaped facial rash.
She was diagnosed with lupus after experiencing joint pain and fatigue.
Because lupus symptoms often mimic other illnesses, it can take doctors a long time to reach a definitive diagnosis.
The patient's systemic lupus erythematosus required a complex treatment plan involving immunosuppressants to prevent the body from further damaging its own renal and cardiovascular systems.
From Latin lupus (“wolf”).
Often used in the full medical form 'systemic lupus erythematosus' in clinical contexts.