For the first time in more than 50 years, a new medication has been approved for the treatment of lupus. On March 9 the Federal Drug Administration (the FDA) granted approval for Benlysta to treat systemic lupus erythamatosus. 1955 was the last time any drugs were sanctioned for the treatment of this devastating illness.

What is systemic lupus erythamatosus?

Systemic lupus erythamatosus is also referred to as SLE. It is an autoimmune disease that causes symptoms throughout the body, or systemically. in the case of SLE, the immune system mistakenly attacks the patient's body, destroying tissue. SLE causes rashes and skin problems and can damage the heart, kidneys and lungs. Severe joint pain is a common result of the disease and it can also affect the central nervous system. Symptoms are so varied that it is frequently difficult to diagnose, as SLE mimics other illnesses.

Patients with SLE usually experience flares of symptoms with periods of remission in between. It is not known what causes SLE, but both genetics and environment are believed to play a role. Women get SLE nine times more than men and people of African descent have a higher incidence than other ethnicities. While it can be fatal, advances in treatment have increased survival rates over the past two decades.

What treatments have been used until now?

There is no cure for SLE and it is primarily treated according to the symptoms a patient is having. The most frequent medications used until now to treat its effects have been aspirin, corticosteroids and immunosuppressants. Hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug, was also approved to treat symptoms of SLE in 1955. Until this past Wednesday, when Benlysta was cleared by the FDA, that was the last time a drug was approved to treat SLE.

What is Benlysta?

Benlysta, or belimumab, was developed by Human Genome Sciences. It is a monoclonal antibody that is believed to inhibit the autone process and is administered by intravenous infusion every 28 days.

Is Benlysta effective for everyone?

In clinical trials, a small margin of patients who took Benlysta for one year reported an improvement in their symptoms compared to those who were given the placebo, 43.2 percent to 33.8 percent. with longer treatment the gap narrows further, with 39 percent of patients on Benlysta showing benefit opposed to 32 percent on the placebo.

The drug did not appear to be effective at all for African Americans, but the manufacturer acknowledged this could be because there were too few people of African descent in the research trial.

There were also found to be some serious, even fatal, side effects. While the most common adverse reactions were nausea and diarrhea, serious infections and psychiatric symptoms, including three suicides, were documented.

However, some of the patients who did benefit from Benlysta reported they were able to reduce or eliminate the need for other risky drugs, such as corticosteroids, and improve their quality of life.

Marie Cooper, a licensed practical nurse and a certified childbirth educator, writes about health care for the Yahoo! Contributor Network.