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Stories for Reprint
African Americans and Lupus:
Children Face Greater Challenges
By Ferdous Al-Faruque, MARRTC Staff
When compared to adult African Americans with lupus, African American children, in some ways, have a tougher battle.
A recent study conducted by Emory University in Atlanta looked at the early stages of lupus and found that African American children under age 18 with the disease were more likely to have skin conditions and inflammation of blood vessels than black adults. "We wanted to look at what were the differences that affected African American children because it was something that hadn't been studied yet," said Cristina Drenkard, an assistant professor at Emory and a co-investigator of the study.
Lupus is a disease in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue and organs. It affects African Americans and Hispanics two to three times more than Caucasians. Though children are less commonly affected by the disease, when they are, it is often more severe.
Sam Lim, assistant professor at Emory and principal investigator of the study, says it is important for parents of children with lupus to educate themselves about the disease and closely monitor their child's condition. One thing to look out for is kidney problems. In this study, there was no difference in kidney problems between adults and children within the first year of disease. However, over time, children do have more kidney complications from lupus and these problems are more severe compared to adults. "Parents need to be continuously vigilant that their children have proper follow-up (with their doctor) and monitoring of the kidneys," he says.
However, finding a pediatric rheumatologist to provide specialized treatment for children with lupus can be a challenge in itself. Lim says there is a serious nationwide shortage of pediatric rheumatologists and added, "There are large metropolitan areas that don't have any or enough practicing pediatric rheumatologists."
A 2007 report from the US Department of Health and Human Resources to Congress found that there are fewer than 200 certified pediatric rheumatologists around the country and 13 states without a single pediatric rheumatologist. On average, there are more than 3000 children with a rheumatic disease to every pediatric rheumatologist. The department recommended at least a 75 percent increase in pediatric rheumatologists to meet the needs of children with rheumatic disease.
Lim and Drenkard's study was part of a larger project called the Georgia Lupus Registry. Scientists working with the project are gathering data on a large population of people at high risk for developing lupus from three counties in Georgia.
This is the final story of a three part series on the Georgia Lupus Registry conducted by Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Records of more than 1400 African American lupus patients from Fulton, DeKalb and Richmond counties in Georgia are currently being collected and analyzed.
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