October is Lupus Awareness Month!!!!!!

So, as you may or may not know, I have several auto-immune diseases; one of them being SLE Lupus. Lupus is rediculously under-researched, and astonishingly, no one talks about this disease. If you knew the facts, you would understand why I say this. Well, let me just fill you in... (Most of these facts are from the lupus.org, cure4lupus.org, and my own research.)

• Lupus is an autoimmune disease that can affect various parts of the body, including the skin, joints, heart, lungs, blood, kidneys and brain. The immune system normally protects the body against viruses, bacteria and other foreign materials. In an autoimmune disease like lupus, the immune system loses its ability to tell the difference between foreign substances and its own cells and tissues. The immune system then makes antibodies directed against itself; these are called "auto-antibodies" and cause massive amounts of pain, inflammation, and damage to vast parts of the body.
• Lupus is not contagious, not cancer, and does not have a cure (at this time).
• 90% of all Lupus Survivors are women.
• Lupus is more prevalent in african-american, latino, and asian descents.
• There is no known cause for Lupus- only 10% of those diagnosed with Lupus will have a close relative with Lupus or other major auto-immune disease. Also, only approximately 5% of children born from Lupus Survivors will develop the disease
• 1.5 to 2 million American suffer from Lupus. More than 16,000 Americans develop Lupus each year. These statistics show that approximately 1 out of every 185 Americans is affected by Lupus!!!
• Lupus is more prevalent than AIDS, sickle cell anemia, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, and multiple sclerosis COMBINED.
• 80% of those with Lupus develop it between the ages of 15-45.
• Symptoms of SLE Lupus (with percentages of prevalency) include:
• Achy joints (arthralgia)-95%
• Frequent fevers of more than 100 degrees F. -90%
• Arthritis (swollen joints) -90%
• Prolonged or extreme fatigue-81%
• Skin rashes-74%
• Anemia-71%
• Neurological involvement (excluding seizures) including headache/migraine, memory loss, and depression-50%
• Kidney involvement -50%
• Pain in the chest on deep breathing (pleurisy) -45%
• Butterfly-shaped rash across the cheek and nose -42%
• Sun or light sensitivity (photosensitivity) -30%
• Hair loss -27%
• Abnormal blood clotting problems -20%
• Raynaud's phenomenon (fingers turning white and/or blue in the cold)-17%
• Seizures -15%
• Mouth or nose ulcers -12%
• Thousands of Americans die of Lupus each year.
• Lupus deaths have actually increased by 61% in the last 25 years.
• Lupus deaths among African-American women have actually increased by 70% in the last 25 years.
• Only 50% of lupus patients lived 4 years after diagnosis in the 1950s. Currently 80-90% of Lupus patients with non organ threatening SLE survive 10 years or more after diagnosis.
• About 15% of arthritis deaths are from SLE.
• Almost 37% of SLE deaths are among people between 15 and 44.
• Lupus deaths are five times higher for women than men.
• No new treatment has been approved by the FDA for Lupus in over 40 years.

My SLE mainly attacks my brain, joints, blood, and skin. I have quite a few other auto-immune diseases/syndromes that attack other areas of my body as well, which makes me pretty sick more often than someone who just has SLE. YET, approximately 15% of those who have SLE, they typically have 4-5 other auto-immune diseases in addition to SLE. If you have any questions, or want to know more about how you can get involved with Lupus Awareness or Research, PLEASE don't hesitate to contact me! I LOVE educating people about this severely life-altering and debilitating disease. We can't fight something we don't know about!!! The more people who know about it, the more people we can get to write congress to get more funding for research and awareness!!!!!