Yesterday I accepted a volunteer position on the Board of Directors for the Lupus foundation of America Pacific Northwest chapter. I am very happy to part of an organization focused on spreading awareness and providing support for people suffering from Lupus.
The following description of Lupus is from the Lupus Foundation of America website.
Lupus is a chronic, autoimmune disease that can damage any part of the body (skin, joints, and/or organs inside the body). Chronic means that the signs and symptoms tend to last longer than six weeks and often for many years. In lupus, something goes wrong with your immune system, which is the part of the body that fights off viruses, bacteria, and germs (“foreign invaders,” like the flu). Normally our immune system produces proteins called antibodies that protect the body from these invaders. Autoimmune means your immune system cannot tell the difference between these foreign invaders and your body’s healthy tissues (“auto” means “self”) and creates autoantibodies that attack and destroy healthy tissue. These autoantibodies cause inflammation, pain, and damage in various parts of the body.
As a special note Lupus disproportionately affects women as 90% of people diagnosed are women.
You can find out more about Lupus by going to either the Lupus Foundation of America Pacific Northwest chapter webpage or the Lupus Foundation of America Webpage. If you are on facebook I would encourage you to visit my profile and click on the Lupus cause badge in the lower left corner of the page.
Every 30 minutes someone is diagnosed with Lupus. Please take the time to read a little about Lupus and help to spread awareness.
great lupus article.you do great articles.could you do one about diabetes?my dad died at 51 of this.but of course he did not take care of him self and he passed away in 1985.not too much known about it back then.
Thank you Mike I’ll see what I can do.