‘Lupus thriver’ works to educate others about autoimmune disease

GREENSBORO, N.C. — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that although people of all races can have lupus, African American and Hispanic women are up to three times more likely than white women to have the disease.

Keva Brooks Napper, founder of Beautiful Butterflies, an organization that educates women about the illness, calls herself a lupus thriver.

“I am a 21-year lupus thriver. I don’t say survivor, even though I have survived a lot of things, I say thriver because to survive is to live but to thrive is to excel,” Brooks Napper said.

Lupus is an autoimmune disease that can affect any part of the body, causing the immune system to be overactive.

The symptoms of lupus that Brooks Napper experienced include hair loss, skin rashes, skin sensitivity, pleurisy and inflammation around the heart and lungs.

Researchers are focused on learning how the disease develops.

Some doctors are taking extra steps to identify patients who need more intensive therapy.

The Yale Lupus Program offers programs such as a combined rheumatology-dermatology clinic and access to clinical trials. It’s the first of its kind.

Brooks Napper is hosting a Hoops for Lupus event at 6 p.m. on May 23 at Southeast Guilford High School in Greensboro.

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