blogger profile

Javacia N. Harris

journalista

I'm a journalist living in Louisville, Kentucky, but I moved here from California and I was born and bred in Birmingham, Alabama. This means I often use the words "dude" and "y'all" in the same sentence. You've been warned. If you want to read the stuff I write to pay the rent, visit www.courier...

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Someone you know has...

I admit that I don’t read Glamour magazine every month for its compelling articles (though it does have plenty). I get excited when the latest issue arrives in my mail box because I love drooling over clothes and handbags I can’t afford and figuring out ways to look fabulous in the jeans, dresses and tops that my salary can swing. And mainly, Glamour is my workout buddy. Flipping through pages of celebrity gossip, gorgeous fashion photos and “must-have” beauty products helps me get through an hour on the elliptical.
 
But the September issue of Glamour features an article that made me slow down and take a closer look.
 
The article “The Scariest Health Threat You’ve Never Heard Of” truly hit home. According to this story there are 23.5 million Americans suffering from an autoimmune disease and 78 percent are female.

I’m among that number.

I was diagnosed with Lupus just after New Year’s Day (Happy New Year!). I also have a mild case of vitiligo (fortunately on parts of my body that only my husband and I see). More terrifying is that I have an aunt and best friend who suffer from multiple sclerosis and have had terrible bouts with this disease.
 
Autoimmune diseases strike when the body’s immune system mistakenly turns on your organs and systems. In the autoimmune disease rheumatoid arthritis, for example, the joints and tissues are under attack. These diseases are more common in young women than breast cancer and the rates are doubling. Nearly everyone knows someone with one of these diseases.

Unfortunately, most doctors haven’t fully educated themselves on how to diagnose these conditions, the article states. I’m one of the lucky ones. Not only is my Lupus manageable, but I wasn’t made to feel stupid by my doctors before my diagnosis. In fact, it was my primary care physician who suggested that I be tested for Lupus.

But my doctor seems to be the exception, not the rule. In the Glamour article, Kathleen Arntsen, president of the Lupus Foundation of Mid and Northern New York, said that before she was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis a doctor said to her, “We’ve given you every test know to man except an autopsy. Would you like one of those too?” I wanted to scream when I read that.
 
If you have a chance read the article and try to learn even more about these diseases that could one day, if they haven’t already, affect your life or the life of someone you love.