An inspiration for the Beatles’ song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” Lucy (O'Donnell) Vodden lost her battle with lupus at the age of 46. A nursery school classmate of John Lennon's son, Julian, Lucy was the subject of Julian's painting. Lucy Vodden's five year battle with Lupus may bring more awareness to this chronic, autoimmune disease. Her inspiration for a song may now bring some much needed attention to a disease that affects, at the very least, 1.5 million Americans.

Systemic lupus erythematosus, commonly known as lupus, is a chronic autoimmune disease that occurs when the immune system is unable to distinguish between harmful and healthy tissues in the body. The immune system attacks the healthy tissue along with the harmful viruses, bacteria and germs invading the body.

Kidney damage associated with the autoimmune disease lupus is linked to a malfunction of immune cells that causes them to congregate in and attack the organs, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have discovered in a mouse study.

Mice from a strain that ordinarily develops systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), but bred with a deficiency in receptor for the protein Interleukin 21, stayed healthy and exhibited none of the symptoms of the disease, researchers at The Jackson Laboratory and National Institutes of Health report.

More drafts usually mean a better product and so it also seems to go with the human immune system. As B cells develop, genes rearrange to allow their antibodies to recognize different foreign invaders or pathogens. But sometimes antibodies are created that recognize and attack the body’s own cells.

It's not just patients with autoimmune diseases like lupus and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) that have self-attacking immune cells—healthy people have them too, according to a new report in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

Hospital for Special Surgery rheumatologist provides new information to aid pregnancy in women with lupus

New Survey by Applied Data Research Analyzes Therapeutic and Commercial Factors in Treating Autoimmune Diseases

B cells, the source of damaging autoantibodies, have long been thought to depend upon T cells for their activation and were not considered important in the initiation of autoimmune diseases like lupus or rheumatoid arthritis.

Your immune system may have more in common with a Corvette than you thought.

Applied Data Research Survey Examines Evolving Technology and Strategic Factors

A new treatment using a combination of drugs targeting different parts of the immune system improves the recovery rate for patients with severe lupus involving the kidneys, according to a report in the October Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN).