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.
Michael D. Lockshin
Dr. Lockshin has authored nearly 300 scientific papers, book chapters, and books and has edited several conference proceedings and books. In addition, he co-authored the first reports on hepatitis B–associated polyarteritis nodosa; early reports on twins with lupus; studies on neurologic lupus, including treatment and cognitive dysfunction; pregnancy and lupus; atherosclerosis and lupus, and many research papers on the antiphospholipid antibody syndrome. He convened the first International Conference on Pregnancy and Rheumatic Disease and, though the Barbara Volker Center, the first Conference on Gender, Biology, and Human Disease. His research has been supported by grants from NIAMS, the Arthritis Foundation, the SLE Foundation, and private donors throughout his academic career.