A new study by researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts reveals that Asian and Hispanic patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have lower mortality rates compared to black, white, or Native Americans with the disease

Findings indicate that the risk for death among white patients is much lower than in black and Native American SLE patients. Patients with lupus have an overactive immune system that attacks their healthy joints and organs. Previous studies report that lupus is disproportionately higher among non-white populations in the United States. In fact, evidence shows incidence of lupus is as much as four times higher in black compared to white females. Blacks, Hispanics and Asians with lupus have higher rates of lupus nephritis, end-stage renal disease and organ damage according to prior research. The racial/ethnic breakdown of patients with lupus or lupus nephritis in the current study was 40% black, 38% white, 15% Hispanic, 5% Asian, and 2% Native American. The annual mortality rate for those with lupus per 1,000 person-years was highest in Native Americans (27.52), blacks (24.13), and whites (20.17). Hispanic and Asian lupus patients had lower mortality than black, white, or Native American patients even after adjusting for demographic and clinical factors.