Health: People of color more prone to Lupus disease

Asia Tingle
Staff Writer

Jamillah Sanderson, a native of Newton, Miss.,  has been battling Systemic Lupus Erythematosus since the age of 12. She also has Lupus Nephritis which attacks the kidneys.

Lupus is a chronic inflammatory disease that can affect various parts of the body, such as the skin, joints, blood, and kidneys. The body’s immune system makes antibodies to protect the body against viruses and other foreign materials called antigens. With lupus, the immune system loses its ability to tell the difference between antigens and its own cells and tissues. This causes the body to create auto-antibodies that react with the antigens that cause immune complexes. These complexes cause inflammation, tissue injury, and severe pain.

Lupus may only affect a few organs in some people. In others, like Sanderson, it may cause life-threatening issues.

“I have had sepsis twice, a condition in which the blood poisons the body and came with a 105 temp, said Sanderson.  “I lost my upper colon, bladder, right kidney, gallbladder, and appendix.”

Lupus has also affected her heart and lungs causing pulmonary hypertension which is high blood pressure in the arteries of the lungs causing the right side of the heart to work even harder.

Each year, more than 16,000 people are affected with lupus and almost 1.5 million Americans have been diagnosed with the disease. Lupus is known as the “women’s disease” and can affect black women between the ages of 12 and 44 and doesn’t discriminate but people of color are more prone to the disease. 

If you have never been tested, now is the time.  According to the Lupus Foundation of America, lupus is not infectious and three times more likely to affect people of color and fifteen times more likely to affect women.

Sanderson was diagnosed with lupus at such a young age that is hard for her to remember what her first reactions were. She remembers, “I missed my first semester of my 8th grade year and my only focus was going back to school to be with my friends and trying to live a normal life.”

There are three types of lupus: discoid, systemic, and drug-induced. Discoid lupus usually results in a rash on the skin. Systemic lupus can affect any organ of the body. Drug-induced lupus has most of the symptoms of systemic lupus but it is typically found in men who are given drugs like hydralazine which is used to treat hypertension.

There is no known cause of lupus. Some scientists believe genetic factors and environmental influences that cause this disease.

Dr. Mary Anne Dooley, director of the Rheumatology Clinic at UNC-Chapel Hill said, “The outlook on medical care is improving. People are living longer because we are able to diagnose and treat patients earlier.”

A typical person suffering from lupus takes medicines such as steroids, calcium and iron supplements, and an ibuprofen-based anti-inflammatory.

Symptoms of lupus include achy joints, fever of 100 degrees or higher, arthritis, extreme fatigue, skin rashes, anemia, kidney involvement, chest pains with deep breathing, rash across the cheeks and nose, sensitivity to sunlight, hair loss, blood clotting problems, seizure, and mouth or nose ulcers.

Lupus can cause a person to have a more complex lifestyle than before being diagnosed with the disease.

Sanderson said, “Having an easy life is not an option with this disease because you never know what’s going to happen day to day.”

Although there is no known cure for lupus, there are many effective treatments. One treatment that was recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration, BENLYSTA, is said to be the first drug to treat lupus and is the first drug developed specifically for lupus.

Lupus will only control your life if you allow it to do so.

Sanderson said she lives by these words each day: “I have lupus, lupus doesn’t have me!”