Indigenous Australian

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic, systemic autoimmune disease that can affect many parts of the body including skin, lungs, brain, heart, kidneys, joints, and blood vessels. SLE presentation can vary significantly between patients. Because of this, it can be challenging to identify a patient as having SLE. Between 300,000 and 2,000,000 people in the US are estimated to have SLE. Determination of an exact number of people affected is challenging as the disease is difficult to identify given the diverse presentations and the length of time it may take for symptoms to appear.