Someone you know has lupus.
Yep. Guaranteed. You may not know it. Heck, they may not know it. That's where the danger lies. That's why awareness is so important, and why we should be doing everything in our power (including shouting from the rooftops) to let people know what lupus is, what it looks like, and what it does to a life.
Lupus affects anywhere from 1.5 to 2.5 million people in the US. We don't have hard numbers because not only is it difficult to diagnose people when you don't have a definitive testing method, additionally, no one has bothered to take a head count recently.
Lupus affects mostly women, but men are not immune. It affects mostly people of Asian, Hispanic or African descent, but Caucasians are not immune. It affects mostly people between the ages of 15 and 45, but children are not immune. Basically, if you have an immune system, you're vulnerable. Scary, hmm?
Lupus doesn't just affect the person who has it, either. Nope. It's an equal-opportunity disease. A mom gets it, and it affects her children: "No, honey. Mommy can't take you to the park today. Sit down and watch TV." A husband gets it, and it affects his wife: "Sorry love, but I got laid off for 'excessive absenteeism'." A daughter gets it, and it devastates her parents: "Please, my baby needs a new kidney. Won't you help?"
We don't have telethons. We don't have an "A-List" celebrity spokesperson. We don't have high-profile fundraisers. We don't have Congressional hearings. Not only don't we have a cure, we haven't even had a new drug to treat lupus in 40 years. That's 4-0, people. We've got a dozen drugs to treat erectile dysfunction, but nothing for lupus. Doesn't it make you want to scream?
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