FOX 7 HEALTH WATCH: Lupus and your kidneys

AUSTIN, Texas - The Lupus Foundation of America said 40% of all lupus patients - will develop kidney complications.

Late last week, Selena Gomez announced on Instagram that she is one of them.

The 25-year-old singer and actress recently underwent a kidney transplant - the organ donated by her friend.

Lupus in an auto-immune disease - that causes patients' anti-bodies to attack their organs and tissue.

While many patients don't look sick- there is a war going on inside of their bodies.
FOX 7’S Rebecca Thomas talks to Maria Fitzpatrick of Cedar Park who knows this first hand.

The Zumba instructor was diagnosed in 2009 shortly after the birth of her first child with the auto-immune disease.

Thomas also talked to Dr. Steve Hardeman a urologist with the Kidney Transplant Center at St. David's North Austin Medical Center about the process of becoming a kidney donor.

To learn more about lupus visit www.lupuslonestar.org.