This completely updated and expanded 2nd edition of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, A Manual includes topics not covered previously with contributors who are at the forefront of each specific topic and with a global appeal. Each chapter is short and is presented critically with selected references, which should be valuable to a wider audience. This book combines basic with clinical science to help internists and specialists in the diagnosis and management of patients with SLE. It is a quick referral for people in the pharmaceutical industry in their efforts to bring much-needed drugs. It provides all the needed information to basic researchers old and new alike, who wish to enter the field of lupus and systemic autoimmunity in general.

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.

* Highly illustrated and in full color throughout
* Basic science section expanded to allow the reader to focus on the newest techniques in molecular medicine and its effects on disease expression and treatment
* Clinical aspects and new drugs will be covered in great detail providing a useful reference to both experienced clinicians and physicians with an interest in lupus in their clinical practice

The Autoimmune Diseases, Sixth Edition, emphasizes the "3 P's" of 21st Century medicine: precision, prediction and prevention. Topics cover the modern systems approach to biology that involves large amounts of personalized, ongoing physiologic data ("omics") coupled with advanced methods of analysis, new tests of genetic engineering, such as CRISPR, auto inflammatory diseases, autoimmune responses to tumor immunotherapy, and information on normal immune response and disorders. Each of the major autoimmune disorders is discussed by researchers and clinical investigators experienced in dealing with patients. Chapters emphasize the immunologic basis of the disease as well as the use of immunologic diagnostic methods and treatments. The book also covers several cross-cutting issues related to the recognition and treatment of autoimmune diseases, including chapters on the measurement of autoantibodies and T cells, the use of biomarkers as early predictors of disease, and new methods of treatment.