Men & Lupus

Table of Contents

90% of Lupus fighters are women, but men, of all ages, get both Discoid Lupus and Systemic Lupus.  

Aprox. 150,000 American men have Lupus.

Charles Kuralt, Michael Jackson, Seal, baseball player Tim Raines, rapper Trick Daddy, J Dilla, Michael Wayne, Ferdinand Marcos, Hugh Gaitskell, Ray Walston, Donald Byrne, all have or died with Lupus.  more on Celebrities with Lupus...

Men can also get Drug Induced Lupus.  In fact they get DILE more often than women.  This is likely because the some of medications that trigger DILE are prescribed more often to men.

Hormone levels as well as the way certain hormones are metabolized differs between men with Lupus and men without Lupus.  These hormones include estrogen, androgens, testosterone, and prolactin.

Men may feel less masculine after a diagnosis of Lupus seeing it as a "woman's disease".  This is just not true.  Men with Lupus are typically as fertile as men without Lupus.  Lupus does not directly interfere with ability to perform sexually, however pain, fatigue and depression that sometimes accompany Lupus can lead to sexual dysfunction.  more on Sex & Lupus...

Coping with the limitations Lupus can put on physical ability can be even more difficult for men than women due to societal expectations on men to be strong and perform physically, and to provide for their families.

Men typically cope better than women with the changes to appearance that can come with Lupus but they can still cause loss of self esteem.  The changes of most concern to men include hair loss, weight gain and skin changes.

There is conflicting information about the severity of Lupus in men versus Lupus in women.

Men's Lupus Support groups are often very different from women's groups.  They tend to spend more time talking about sports or other common interests, only occasionally talking about the Lupus.  Men in a group like this feel like they have bonded with other guys in their position.

Some studies have suggested that pleurisy, renal involvement, Discoid Lupus, hemolytic anemia, Lupus anticoagulant, peripheral neuropathy, vasculitis and seizures can be more common in men with Lupus than they are in women with Lupus.