On the evening of March 4, 2010, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution designating March as “National Autoimmune Diseases Awareness Month” and supporting efforts to increase awareness of autoimmune diseases and increase funding for autoimmune disease research. Today, fewer than 13% of Americans can name, unaided, an autoimmune disease. This is staggering when one considers that there are 100+ known autoimmune diseases, all of which are chronic, many life-threatening, and that as a category, autoimmune diseases are one of the top 10 killers of women under the age of 65. So what does AARDA want Americans to be aware of during “National Autoimmune Diseases Awareness Month”? 1. Be aware that autoimmune diseases target women; 75% of patients are women. 2. Know that autoimmune diseases tend to cluster in families. If your mother had rheumatoid arthritis and your sister had Crohn’s disease, you could be at higher risk than usual. 3. Autoimmune diseases are on the rise in the U.S. and around the world, celiac disease has tripled in the past 10 years in Minnesota alone. 4. Because of lack of early diagnosis and onset of treatment, healthcare costs for autoimmune diseases are overwhelming for patients and the healthcare system. 5. Everyone should know the facts about autoimmune disease. Auto-immune conditions are about balancing the immune system. Tonight’s show will help you understand the connection between your gut and auto-immune conditions. There is more that can be done than just immune suppression. By looking for the cause, stabilization of immune response is possible.
