Category: Uncategorized

AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE FACT SHEET

Autoimmune Disease…is a major health problem.
• The National Institutes of Health (NIH estimates up to 23.5 million Americans suffer from autoimmune disease and that the prevalence is rising.
• Researchers have identified 80-100 different autoimmune diseases and suspect at least 40 additional diseases of having an autoimmune basis. These diseases are chronic and can be life-threatening.
• Autoimmune disease is one of the top 10 leading causes of death in female children and women in all age groups up to 64 years. of age.
• A close genetic relationship exists among autoimmune disease, explaining clustering in individuals and families as well as a common pathway of disease.
• Commonly used immunosuppressant treatments lead to devastating long-term side effects.
• The Institute of Medicine reports that the US is behind other countries in research into immune system self recognition, the process involved in autoimmune disease.
• Understanding how to modulate immune system activity will benefit transplant recipients, cancer patients, AIDS patients and infectious disease patients.

…faces critical obstacles in diagnosis and treatment.
• Symptoms cross many specialties and can affect all body organs.
• Medical education provides minimal learning about autoimmune disease.
• Specialists are generally unaware of interrelationships among the different autoimmune diseases or advances in treatment outside their own specialty area.
• Initial symptoms are often intermittent and unspecific until the disease becomes acute.
• Research is generally disease-specific and limited in scope. More information-sharing and crossover among research projects on different autoimmune diseases is needed.

…offers surprising statistical comparisons with other disease groups.
• NIH estimates up to 23.5 million Americans have an AD. In comparison, cancer affects up to 9 million and heart disease up to 22 million.
• NIH estimates annual direct health care costs for AD to be in the range of $100 billion (source: NIH presentation by Dr. Fauci, NIAID). In comparison, cancers costs are $57 billion (source: NIH,ACS), and heart and stroke costs are $200 billion (source: NIH, AHA).
• NIH research funding for AD in 2003 came to $591 million. In comparison, cancer funding came to $6.1 billion; and heart and stroke, to $2.4 billion (source: NIH).
• The NIH Autoimmune Diseases Research Plan states; “Research discoveries of the last decade have made autoimmune research one of the most promising areas of new discovery.”
• According to the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Women’s Health, autoimmune disease and disorders ranked #1 in a top ten list of most popular health topics requested by callers to the National Women’s Health Information Center.

Source: www.aarda.org

It’s almost feeling like this is a musical kind of place, but I saw this today and have to share it as I find it so powerful on so many different levels. I find it so cool that a combination of efforts and skills from people around the world that might not even know each other can make such a powerful statement and, yes, change the world for the better. This is exactly what we’re trying to do here, my friends that I know and those that I don’t… we are all in the same boat, trying to row against the same current, looking at the same final destination of a better life not just for us and our families but for millions of other people who will benefit from our success – people who will have no idea that our actions are helping them as we seem so unrelated, but we are….

Here’s the song….

This movement is gaining momentum. Our movement that is. People who had no idea they belong to such a huge group are starting to see the light. I keep reading articles about various autoimmune diseases and at the end of each one there’s the statement “we need more research into this disease”, and it really strikes me how we all have compartmentalized ourselves into little boxes. Imagine if we all stood together and said “we need more research into this disease – autoimmunity” – just imagine how strong and loud our communal voice will be and how the world will have no other option than to listen. With finding a common thread we can free up millions from suffering and free up billions of dollars taken up in the medical systems of the world right now treating chronic illness for other illnesses and medical research for all kinds of other problems. Everyone, EVERYONE, will benefit from a successful campaign here. EVERY ONE!