Systemic lupus erythematosus
The rate of SLE varies between countries, ethnicity, and sex, and changes over time. In the United States, one estimate of the rate of SLE is 53 per 100,000; other estimates range from 322,000 to over 1 million. In Northern Europe the rate is about 40 per 100,000 people. SLE occurs more frequently and with greater severity among those of non-European descent. That rate has been found to be as high as 159 per 100,000 among those of Afro-Caribbean descent. Childhood-onset systemic lupus erythematosus generally presents between the ages of 3 and 15 and is four times more common in girls.
Mabel Hokin
Most of Mabel's life was spent under a shadow cast by autoimmune illness. At the age of 16 she was diagnosed with lupus and given a dire prognosis for longevity. It turned out, however, to be a nonfatal autoimmune connective tissue disease with which Mabel struggled for the rest of her life. In the mid-1960s, treatment with steroids became established, and Mabel's steroid treatment led to degradation of her hip joints. She was an early recipient of artificial hips at Mayo Clinic in 1972.