Rachel's hair was falling out, her joints were swollen, she had mouth ulcers and she was exhausted. Doctors dismissed her for years... and then she discovered the surprising cause

Sitting in A&E aged just 19 and in her second year of university with agonising, swollen ankles - the latest in a long line of unexplained health complaints - it dawned on Rachel Hall how unwell she was. 'It can be very difficult to live with,' says Professor Christopher Edwards, a consultant rheumatologist at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, who also works in lupus research. Lupus can also damage the kidneys, lungs, heart, brain, nervous system and muscles Lupus, which can affect almost any part of the body, can be treated with anticoagulants One reason for the confusion is that lupus is diagnosed through a combination of the patient's medical history and blood tests to detect specific antibodies. Earlier this year, a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that CAR T-cell therapy - a cutting-edge cancer treatment - seems to also reduce lupus symptoms. Eight patients with severe lupus given CAR T-cell therapy went into full remission and stayed there until the end of the study, two years later, without needing to go back on to immune-suppressing lupus medication.