Celebrate World Lupus Day by spreading the word.

Despite its enormous public health implications, lupus remains a dangerously under-recognized and under-appreciated women’s health issue.

Every day, more than 5 million people worldwide struggle with the often debilitating health consequences of lupus, a potentially fatal …autoimmune disease capable of damaging virtually any part of the body, including the skin, heart, lungs, kidneys, and brain.

Nine out of ten people with lupus are women. Eighty percent of new lupus cases are diagnosed among women ages 15 to 44, striking at the peak of their reproductive and career potential. A merciless predator, lupus permanently disables many young women.

In its most severe form, lupus can cause disfiguring rashes and scarring, multiple miscarriages, kidney, heart and lung failure, impaired neurological function, strokes, heart attacks and death.

Many people with lupus are unable to maintain employment or attend school because of extended lupus-related absences and hospitalizations. A majority of those affected must live with debilitating pain and profound fatigue which greatly affects their quality of life.

For some, memory and mental processing may be impaired, rendering simple tasks, such as recalling names or balancing a checkbook, as significant challenges. There is always the ever-present threat of a flare — the sudden onset of more serious symptoms.

http://www.worldlupusday.org/

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