Join us Saturday, July 13, 2013 in Bartlett, IL to fight lupus!
Walk to End Lupus Now is a fun event that draws together lupus patients and their families and friends in order to raise awareness of lupus and raise funds to fight the disease! We will gather July 13th to celebrate months of hard work and fundraising with a 3 mile walk throughout James "Pate" Philip State Park in Bartlett! There will be music and entertainment, children's activities, information on lupus, special speakers, and more! For more information or to register, please visit www.lupuswalkil.org or call 312-542-0002.
What is lupus?
Lupus is an acute and chronic (lifelong) autoimmune disease in which the immune system becomes unbalanced, causing inflammation and tissue damage to virtually every organ system in the body.
Lupus can affect many parts of the body, including the skin, joints, blood and blood vessels, heart, lungs, kidneys and brain. The health effects of lupus range from mild to life-threatening and the disease vacillates between periods of increased activity called flares and periods of remission.
Lupus can be particularly difficult to diagnose because its symptoms are similar to those of many other illnesses and major gaps exist in understanding the causes and consequences of lupus. More than half of all people with lupus suffer four or more years and visit three or more doctors before obtaining a correct diagnosis.
Why walk?
It is a harsh fact of life that lack of money often stands in the way of curing sickness and relieving suffering. Lupus is one of the cruelest, most mysterious diseases on earth – it strikes without warning, has unpredictable, sometimes fatal effects, lasts a lifetime, and has no known cause and no known cure. But there is an answer: Thanks to people like you who bring new money to the fight, the Lupus Foundation of America, Illinois Chapter (LFAI) rallies experts and deploys resources so that society can make progress toward solving the cruel mystery of lupus and ending its devastating impact.
All of the LFAI's programs and services are free to lupus patients and their family and friends. Funds raised at the walks help pay for these programs and services and keep them free to the public. Among other services, the LFAI provides:
- A system of activities and services intended to meet the needs of Illinois' lupus community (Living with Lupus Grant, educational programs and teleconferences, Lupus Community Navigator Program).
- Services to Illinois' lupus community to help remove the strain of living with lupus (individual and group support, physician referral, Story Sharing Project).
- Education to the public about lupus (health fairs, Lupus Awareness Rally, media campaigns, information packets).
- A volunteer Lupus Advocacy Network to take part in activities with their legislators (contact representatives about lupus, support for proposed legislation, attend House Health and Healthcare committee hearing).
- Through the LFA, research funds to find new treatments and a cure.
