Kick Lupus word cloud competition winner!

The LUPUS EUROPE 2018 convention is underway in Leuven, Belgium and among the serious speeches on medical and psychological topics, we were delighted to be presented the beautiful (and very creative) word cloud entries in the Kick Lupus competition. All in all there were 35 entries to the competition, a great response! The judges on […]

A mother’s story

For World Lupus Day, Anne Charlet, vice chair of LUPUS EUROPE, was interviewed by MedTech. When Anne Charlet’s teenage daughter complained of extreme fatigue, she thought it was just end-of-school year tiredness or anaemia. But a precautionary blood test that revealed an unusually low platelet count led to a completely unexpected diagnosis several months later: […]

Kikka’s story

My Lupus story doesn’t start in 1993 with an SLE diagnosis, but eight years earlier in 1985, when at the age of 22 I got pneumonia for the first time. O spent two weeks in hospital with a horde of doctors around my bed wondering why antibiotics weren’t working. The oldest doctor mentioned that I […]

Katharine’s story

When it was first suggested that I write a patient story for Lupus Europe, I have to say that I felt a little uncomfortable. Firstly, I’m an intensely private person and have so far never wanted to write about myself or write a blog. Secondly my ‘lupus’ is relatively mild (in the medical sense rather […]

Anna’s story

I met my Lupus on a sunny day of April 2003 when I was 23 years old. A year ago, I was hospitalized because I fainted with seizures. At the time, the doctors told me that anyone can have such episodes once or twice during their life. However, a neurologist in training thought that I was […]

Yvonne’s story

  My story – by Yvonne from the Netherlands On 6 July 2004, I woke up with a tremendous pain in my right hand. Because I also had a slight rash, my GP immediately referred me to a dermatologist. He examined me and referred me to a rheumatologist because he had a hunch what might be […]

Claudine’s story

For World Lupus Day, we have collected a few patient stories which we hope you will enjoy. If you have a story to tell, feel free to get in touch and send your story to katharine@lupus-europe.org! All stories will remain visible on this page of the blog. My life with lupus – living to the […]

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Today is rare disease day!

🚨 There are over 300 million people who live with a #RareDisease in #europe.

🌎 Today, we join our fellow patient organisations that work towards a better life for people with rare diseases and their families.

🔴 Some facts about #rarediseases:

1️⃣ There are more than 6000 identified rare diseases.

2️⃣ Rare diseases currently affect 5% of the worldwide population.
The true impact of rare diseases is much wider, however, with those affected in Europe in the millions, as the disease affects not only the patient but also our loved ones.

3️⃣ 72% of genetic diseases are genetic, although #lupus is not one of them.
👉 Lupus is not a genetic disease. Although it is very much related to genes, there are other factors that play a role in its manifestation.

4️⃣ 👶Neonatal #lupus is a rare congenital disorder that some infants of mothers with lupus and anti-Ro/SSA and/or anti-La/SSB antibodies develop.
The most serious complication of neonatal lupus is a heart condition known as congenital heart block.

5️⃣ Having an early diagnosis is key to having access to the right treatment. This has an impact on physical and mental health and, therefore, on the quality of life.

Along with organisations like Rare Disease Day and EURORDIS-Rare Diseases Europe, we will carry on working towards an early diagnosis, access to treatment and equality for #RareDisease patients 🙌.

Thank you for your support on this #rarediseaseday!

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#lupus is a #RareDisease that affects nearly 500,000 people in Europe. Furthermore, there are over 300 million people who live with a #RareDisease in #europe.

Today, along with Rare Disease Day, patient organisations around the world advocate for equity for people living with a rare disease

#ShareYourColours and help us spread the word by liking and sharing. Remember that you can also download the material of the official campaign on the website

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#Lupus is a #RareDis

Today is #RareDiseaseDay!

And we have joined Rare Disease Day campaign.

Everyone deserves equal opportunities, access to healthcare ➕ early diagnosis, which is key to setting a treatment plan &, hence, achieving a good quality of life.
#ShareYourColours

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7J1oTfoIOGw
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Today is #RareDiseas

😃 Throwback to the HMA/EMA Multi-Stakeholder Workshop on Artificial Intelligence.

Watching Alain Cornet show the world what #LupusGPT really is still gives us goosebumps! 🙌

For those who still don't know this artificial intelligence tool:

💡 LupusGPT is built by patients and doctors.
🗣️ It speaks virtually any language.
💸 It’s free and anonymous- you don’t need to create an account.
📚 It is trained exclusively on a curated repository of validated documents.
🚫 It does not invent answers.

If something is not in the repository, LupusGPT will clearly say so. It will not guess. It will not generate false information.

🥹 Seeing LupusGPT presented at such a high-level regulatory forum confirmed something important:
Patient-led innovation can meaningfully contribute to the future of AI in medicine when it is built responsibly.

🔗 Try it here! lupusgpt.org/

🧠 Are medical terms confusing? Prefer shorter explanations in simple language?
Try #EasyLupus! The easy-read version of LupusGPT: easy.lupusgpt.org/
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