What Women of Color Must Know About Lupus
One study looked at race, the other looked at race and income
In the Manhattan study, lupus was diagnosed in white women at a rate of 51.4 per 100,000 women per year. Black women suffered at a rate of 133.1 per 100,000 women per year, Hispanic women were at 142.7, and Asian women were diagnosed with lupus at 118.5 per 100,000 per year. You don’t have to be a math expert to see the differences.
The second study was different in that it considered income levels as well as race. This study actually found that lower income levels changed the differences in race a bit. The investigation revealed that 91.3 percent of lupus patients on Medicaid were women, 42% were black, 38% were white, 16% were Hispanic, and 3% were Asian. This study suggests that income levels do affect those who have lupus.
Lupus attacks different organs and tissues, making patients at risk for kidney disease and heart problems as well. The Manhattan study found that 25.4% of white women with lupus had kidney disease, but more than 49.4% of Hispanics and 53.2% of Asian women had kidney disease with their lupus. Those black women who had lupus were more at risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke than white women. However, Asians and Hispanics did not seem to have heart attacks at the same rate as either black or white women.