A cutting-edge examination of the mysterious world of autoimmune disease--and the new discoveries made daily that may save women's lives

Autoimmune diseases--including chronic fatigue syndrome, vasculitis, juvenile diabetes, alopecia, Graves' disease, Sjogren's syndrome, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and multiple sclerosis--are among the most devastating conditions afflicting women today and the most resistant to diagnosis and treatment. In all of them, the body's immune system begins to attack healthy and normally functioning cells. And one of the biggest puzzles is why 80 percent of autoimmune disease sufferers are women. In this groundbreaking book, world-class immunologist Dr. Robert Lahita brings years of intensive research, patient care, and diagnostics to shed light on the mysteries of these conditions, with a particular focus on how they affect--and how he treats--women.

Through case studies, he reveals the early warning signs, symptoms, diagnostic processes, and the most innovative treatments for all the most common--and many of the less well known--autoimmune diseases. He offers a scientifically sound and sensitive work that is the best resource available to help understand these perplexing and debilitating diseases.

A perennial bestseller, Lupus Q&A is the go-to guide for sufferers of a chronic autoimmune disease that affects more than 1.4 million people in the United States alone. Characterized by achy joints and skin rashes, lupus often mimics other diseases, making it tricky to diagnose and treat. In this completely revised and updated edition, Dr. Robert Lahita and Dr. Robert Phillips--leading experts on lupus--discuss topics in a clear, concise, and easy-to-follow Q&A format.

Lahita and Phillips review the newest drugs and explore beneficial complementary and alternative treatments, including new data on hormone use. Demystifying everything from diagnosis to the disease's psychological impact, Lupus Q&A prepares readers to face the challenges ahead--and to restore their health and their lives.

Lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease that is difficult to diagnose, and the symptoms-from achy joints to skin rashes-often mimic those of other diseases. Based on extensive research and clinical experience, Lupus Q&A answers the myriad questions of the more than 1.4 million lupus patients in this country. The book demystifies lupus by explaining diagnosis, symptoms, treatments, medication, and the psychological impact of the disease.

There is a biological force within the body that wants you to live to old age. While conventionally this force is known in medicine as the immune system, Dr. Bob calls it: The Biological Soul.

The Biological Soul is designed to protect you and allow you to live a healthy life. This force is tangible, measurable, lives within the physical body and determines our age and wellbeing through life. It is physical and complex and, in many ways, spiritual. It is affected by life's stresses, by diets, and by overall health and though not immortal; it both shapes your life and your life shapes it.

IMMUNITY STRONG walks readers through how the immune system works, what makes it implode or keeps it safe and what modern science reveals about how it connects to every part of the body to keep it alive--as the seat of our Biological Soul. Written in Dr. Bob's trade-mark down-to earth style, the book explains that the normal immune system functions like a police department protecting the body from harm. While as a nation we have recently been focused on the effects of infections, the book reveals that it is important to note that disorders of immunity are at the root of most diseases that shorten or impact our lives. From chronic pain and fatigue syndromes, heart disease and clogged arteries and even the ability to recognize and destroy cancer, to multiple sclerosis, lupus, celiac disease, rheumatoid arthritis and autoimmune disorders are all linked to one or another glitch in the immune system.

The purpose of this book is to provide significant information on the incredible complexity of the immune system and how the integration of spiritual, scientific, and emotional values can enhance health. It is Dr. Bob's hope that readers will find a new appreciation of the miracle that is the physical body and to understand the potential within our Biological Soul to promote longevity and overall happiness to life.

IMMUNITY STRONG: Boost Your Body's Natural Healing Power and Live to 100 is a must-read for anyone wishing to nurture and enhance their health.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (S.L.E.), commonly called lupus, is a chronic autoimmune disorder that can affect virtually any organ of the body. In lupus, the body's immune system, which normally functions to protect against foreign invaders, becomes hyperactive, forming antibodies that attack normal tissues and organs, including the skin, joints, kidneys, brain, heart, lungs, and blood. Lupus is characterized by periods of illness, called flares, and periods of wellness, or remission.

Because its symptoms come and go and mimic those of other diseases, lupus is difficult to diagnose. There is no single laboratory test that can definitively prove that a person has the complex illness.

To date, lupus has no known cause or cure. Early detection and treatment is the key to a better health outcome and can usually lessen the progression and severity of the disease. Anti-inflammatory drugs, anti-malarials, and steroids (such as cortisone and others) are often used to treat lupus. Cytotoxic chemotherapies, similar to those used in the treatment of cancer, are also used to suppress the immune system in lupus patients.

A new edition of this established and well regarded reference which combines basic science with clinical science to provide a translational medicine model. Systemic Lupus Erythematosus is a useful reference for specialists in the diagnosis and management of patients with SLE, a tool for measurement of clinical activity for pharmaceutical development and basic research of the disease and a reference work for hospital libraries.