Black children overlooked in scar tissue disorder tests, study says

 

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/937290

 

 News Release 8-Dec-2021
Peer-Reviewed Publication
University of Edinburgh

 An immune disease that can damage vital organs – and is supposedly rare in young people – is more common than previously thought among Black children, a study suggests.

Fresh insights into the disorder – which causes scar tissue to form on skin and internal organs – suggest that Black children are more likely to be affected than young people of other ethnicities.

Findings from the study could lead to improved and earlier diagnosis of the disease, the team says.

The condition – called systemic sclerosis – causes the body’s immune system to attack connective tissues under the skin and around internal organs including the heart, lungs and kidneys.

The presumed rarity of the disease in children – which can be fatal when internal organs are affected – may be because most previous studies have mainly involved White patients, the team says.

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