A study recently found the rate of new cases of kidney failure due to lupus erythematosus among African Americans has surpassed the number of new cases in whites. Many of these new cases include African American women. This is the first study to show incidence rates of kidney failure due to lupus nephritis is higher among African Americans.
 
While examining the incidence of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) caused by lupus in the United States according to age, sex, and racial/ethnic groups, researchers found the incidence is much higher in all minority racial and ethnic groups than in whites, and this percentage continues to widen. Incidence rates over the years examined were almost ten times higher among African American women than among Caucasian women. These findings suggest minority racial and ethnic groups in the United States may not be receiving adequate healthcare for lupus and lupus nephritis, and/or they are not responding to treatment in the same way as Caucasians.

This article originally appeared in the November 2008 issue of Renal Flash.