Scientists at the Northwestern Medicine and Brigham and Women’s Hospital discovered the cause of lupus and a possible cure for it, according to a study published on Wednesday. “We’ve identified a fundamental imbalance in the immune responses that patients with lupus make, and we’ve defined specific mediators that can correct this imbalance to dampen the pathologic autoimmune response,” Dr. Deepak Rao, one of the study’s authors told the Northwestern Medicine news center. An estimated 5 million people have lupus globally, including 1.5 million in the U.S., according to Lupus Foundation of America. “Up until this point, all therapy for lupus is a blunt instrument. It’s broad immunosuppression,” co-author Jaehyuk Choi said. “By identifying a cause for this disease, we have found a potential cure that will not have the side effects of current therapies.” Northwestern researchers were able to identify the cells that caused lupus and target them to potentially reverse the disease, according to Choi. Lupus is an autoimmune disease that weakens the body’s ability to fight off infections.