scholarly journals Relationships among organ damage, social support, and depression in African American women with systemic lupus erythematosus

Lupus ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 253-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Jordan ◽  
N J Thompson ◽  
C Dunlop-Thomas ◽  
S Sam Lim ◽  
C Drenkard
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus ◽  
African American ◽  
African American Women ◽  
Lupus Erythematosus ◽  
Organ Damage ◽  
Systemic Lupus ◽  
American Women ◽  
Need For Support ◽  
Reported Data

Objectives Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) disproportionately strikes African American women. Social support can potentially reduce disease impact. The purpose of this study is to understand the relationship between organ damage and depression in African American women and how social support influences this relationship. Methods We used a mixed methods design, analyzing self-reported data on lupus-related organ damage, depression, and social support in 437 African American women with SLE recruited in the Georgians Organized Against Lupus (GOAL) cohort. Moreover, we conducted interviews among 15 GOAL participants to gather patients' perspectives about the role of social support in people who live with lupus. Results We found a significant association between organ damage and depression ( r = 0.163, p = 0.001), as well as between depression and social support ( F = 17.574, p < 0.001). The quantitative analysis did not render social support as a significant moderator in the organ damage–depression relationship. Interviews, however, revealed that African American women with the most severe organ damage have the greatest need for support. Conclusions Social support is a key resource for lupus patients with high disease burden. Overall, these findings highlight the importance of monitoring depressive symptoms in this population and developing interventions aimed to increase social support available to lupus patients.

scholarly journals Pesticide exposure and risk of systemic lupus erythematosus in an urban population of predominantly African-American women

Lupus ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (13) ◽  
pp. 2129-2134 ◽  
Author(s):  
J N Williams ◽  
S-C Chang ◽  
C Sinnette ◽  
S Malspeis ◽  
C G Parks ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus ◽  
African American ◽  
African American Women ◽  
Lupus Erythematosus ◽  
Urban Population ◽  
Pesticide Exposure ◽  
Adult Women ◽  
Systemic Lupus ◽  
Community Screening ◽  
American Women

Objective: Past studies have reported associations between pesticide exposure and the risk of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Residential pesticide exposure has been less well studied than agricultural exposure. The purpose of this study was to assess SLE risk associated with residential pesticide exposure in an urban population of predominantly African-American women. Methods: Adult women with SLE were identified from six hospital databases and community screening in three neighborhoods in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Controls were adult women volunteers from the same neighborhoods who were screened for the absence of connective tissue disease and anti-nuclear antibodies. Subjects were considered exposed to pesticides if they had ever had an exterminator for an ant, cockroach, or termite problem prior to SLE diagnosis or corresponding reference age in controls. Risks associated with pesticide exposure were analyzed using multivariable logistic regression models, adjusted for sociodemographic factors. Results: We identified 93 SLE subjects and 170 controls with similar baseline characteristics. Eighty-three per cent were African-American. Pesticide exposure was associated with SLE, after controlling for potential confounders (odds ratio 2.24, 95% confidence interval 1.28–3.93). Conclusion: Residential exposure to pesticides in an urban population of predominantly African-American women was associated with increased SLE risk. Additional studies are needed to corroborate these findings.

scholarly journals SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS IN AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMEN: COGNITIVE PHYSIOLOGICAL MODULES, AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE, AND STRUCTURED PSYCHOSOCIAL STRESS

2003 ◽  
Vol 06 (04) ◽  
pp. 599-629 ◽  
Author(s):  
RODRICK WALLACE
Keyword(s):  
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus ◽  
African American ◽  
African American Women ◽  
Gender Discrimination ◽  
Lupus Erythematosus ◽  
Psychosocial Stress ◽  
Disease Onset ◽  
Social Hierarchy ◽  
Systemic Lupus ◽  
American Women

Examining elevated rates of systemic lupus erythematosus in African-American women from perspectives of immune cognition suggests the disease constitutes an internalized physiological image of external patterns of structured psychosocial stress, a 'pathogenic social hierarchy' involving the synergism of racism and gender discrimination, in the context of policy-driven social disintegration which has particularly affected ethnic minorities in the USA. The disorder represents the punctuated resetting of 'normal' immune self-image to a self-attacking 'excited' state, a process formally analogous to models of punctuated equilibrium in evolutionary theory. Thus disease onset takes place in the context of a particular immunological 'cognitive module' similar to what has been proposed by evolutionary psychologists for the human mind. Disease progression involves interaction of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, which we also treat as a cognitive physiological submodule, with both immune cognition and an embedding pathogenic social hierarchy, a structured psychosocial stress which literally writes an image of itself on the course of the disorder. Both onset and progression may be stratified by a relation to cyclic physiological responses which are long in comparison with heartbeat period: circadian, hormonal, and annual light/temperature cycles. The high rate of lupus in African-American women suggests existence of a larger dynamic which entrains powerful as well as subordinate population subgroups, implying that the wide ranging programs of social and economic reform required to cause declines in disease among African-American women will bring significant benefit to all.

scholarly journals MHC region and risk of systemic lupus erythematosus in African American women

2011 ◽  
Vol 130 (6) ◽  
pp. 807-815 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward A. Ruiz-Narvaez ◽  
Patricia A. Fraser ◽  
Julie R. Palmer ◽  
L. Adrienne Cupples ◽  
David Reich ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus ◽  
African American ◽  
African American Women ◽  
Lupus Erythematosus ◽  
Systemic Lupus ◽  
American Women
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document