On April 20, 2016, Mayor Mills from the City of Conyers proclaimed May as Lupus Awareness Month. The proclamation was presented to J. Christopher Reed from the Lupus Foundation of America, GA chapter, and Claire Henry, Chair of the Jordan D Savage Foundation.

Lupus is a chronic, autoimmune disease that can damage any part of the body (skin, joints, and/or organs inside the body) and can cause a wide range of symptoms. When people have lupus, their immune system cannot tell the difference between foreign invaders (viruses, bacteria, and germs) and healthy tissues; therefore, their bodies create antibodies that attack and destroy healthy tissue. They experience flares when sometimes they feel ill and have inflammation, pain, and damage in various parts of the body, while at other times they feel fine.

The disease is complicated and can vary from person to person. It is critical that a person with lupus monitors their symptoms, even when they are minor or seem unrelated, and communicate symptoms to their doctor. Symptoms include extreme fatigue that doesn’t go away with rest; joint pain, stiffness, and swelling in two or more joints; fever; muscle pain; hair loss; skin sores and rashes; nose or mouth sores; and skin rashes after exposure to the sun. A number of drugs are used to treat lupus.

According to the Office of Women’s Health, US Department of Health and Human Services, about 9 out of 10 adults with lupus are women ages 15 to 45 with African-American women being three times more likely to get lupus than Caucasian women. Lupus is also more common in Latina, Asian, and Native American women. Men are at a higher risk before puberty and after age 50. The disease is thought to arise from a combination of genetic susceptibility to autoimmune diseases and certain environmental factors but further research is needed.

For more information about lupus, visit the website for the Lupus Foundation of America at http://www.lupus.org/. For more information about the Jordan D Savage Foundation, visit www.jdotsavage.org.