Bowtie and Scarf Monday
Tie One On for the Cause
This Week's Cause: Lupus Foundation of America
Lupus is a mysterious and debilitating disease that has no known cause or cure. This multi-system disease that has no known cause or cure. This multi-system disease can attack any organ in the body leaving damage in its wake. Lupus is difficult to define, hard to understand, and a challenge to treat. This incurable autoimmune disease wreaks havoc on the lives of patients and their families.
The Lupus Foundation of America is dedicated to finding the causes of and cure for Lupus. The Lupus Foundation of America provides current lupus information, supports lupus research, and promotes lupus awareness.
Contributions can be made in the office of the Vice President for Student Services (110).
What is Lupus?
Lupus is a chronic, autoimmune disease that can damage any part of the body (skin, joints, and/or organs inside the body). Chronic means that the signs and symptoms tend to last longer than six weeks and often for many years.
In lupus, something goes wrong with your immune system, which is the part of the body that fights off viruses, bacteria, and germs ("foreign invaders," like the flu). Normally our immune system produces proteins called antibodies that protect the body from these invaders. Autoimmune means your immune system cannot tell the difference between these foreign invaders and your body’s healthy tissues ("auto" means "self") and creates autoantibodies that attack and destroy healthy tissue. These autoantibodies cause inflammation, pain, and damage in various parts of the body.
Lupus is also a disease of flares (the symptoms worsen and you feel ill) and remissions (the symptoms improve and you feel better).