Lupus is an autoimmune disease that affects more than 1.5 million Americans. It’s when the immune system attacks its tissues, affecting many body systems. The inflammatory disease often disproportionately affects vulnerable groups like women and racial and ethnic minorities.

Dr. Noa Schwartz, the Director of the Montefiore-Einstein Institute for Lupus Care and Research, joins the In Focus Medical Checkup. Schwartz discusses if we are any closer to a cure. She also talks about how COVID-19 has impacted lupus patients and their treatments, the healthcare disparities that exist today and how those disparities specifically affect lupus patients.

According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, Black women with lupus are more than three times more likely to die than Black women in the general population. People with lupus are also at a higher risk of catching COVID-19. Lupus is a chronic disease with no cure, but symptoms can be managed with treatment.

Schwartz explains the evolving areas of research and therapeutic developments in lupus.