In our recent survey, people with lupus and their families told us that they thought it was important to work out why lupus occurs, and why some are more likely to suffer than others.
- We already know that more females are diagnosed than males, and that teenagers can suffer more severe symptoms than adults.
- We want to investigate the link between puberty and lupus, to see whether hormones or sex chromosomes are related to abnormalities in the immune system. Some people start puberty very early, or very late, and we’d like to see if that is linked to their disease.
- We are also interested in whether your sex, or the age you started puberty will affect how well you respond to different treatments. We would like doctors to be able to prescribe drugs in a more personalised way.
The following survey is anonymous and is a way for you to let us know if you think these are important topics for us to research. It should take no more than 3-4 minutes to complete.
Many thanks for your help. Your answers will make a real difference to our future research!
Hannah Peckham MSc, Centre for Adolescent Rheumatology, UCL