User:Regan Mizuno/Beat Lupus

Beat Lupus Organization: The Beat Lupus Organization, a United States organization, and its network of collaborators promotes awareness of lupus, patient and doctor education, research, and advocacy on issues relating to lupus, and provides programs, including a newly diagnosed call center for those living with lupus and for their caregivers. Founded in 2009, the Beat Lupus Organization supports additional novel and established research, provides counseling to those living with the disease as well as informational seminars, resources and information to lupus patients, and extends advocacy endeavors at the national and local level to increase public awareness and encourage the development and sustaining of public policies that support the needs of people living with lupus as well as their families. It does this through support of research in the area of improved lupus treatments, the support and services it provides, and the extensive resources it offers to assist health care professionals and patients.

Contents 1 Resources 2 Research 3 References 4 External Links

Resources: In September 2009, the Beat Lupus Organization launched a new website to help increase awareness of lupus and to show how to spread awareness about the disease. Lupus is a disease of inflammation and auto-immunity. Reference: http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec05/ch068/ch068b.html. Patients diagnosed with lupus experience overproduction of the protein BlyS. A certain amount of BLyS is normal in the human body. However, at increased levels, BlyS can create a series of events, or a cascade, that leads to increased inflammation on a cellular and cumulative level. The Beat Lupus Organization exists to help lupus patients mitigate the amount of inflammation they experience. A special feature of Beat Lupus is its programs that include presentations of traditional treatments and complementary treatments, including use of dietary programs and exercise routines in combination with traditional medicine, supported by health professionals and medical journals. The site provides information from health professionals and medical journals on the cause, research, treatments, and potential cures of the disease. One unique feature of the organization is that it provides communication sessions facilitated by health care professionals wherein lupus patients can interact with doctors and nurses as well as each other in increasing their knowledge about the disease. Another novel feature is its use of music in advocacy efforts. The Beat Lupus website also provides downloads that will allow the public to help end lupus: http://www.beatlupus.com/singing.

The Beat Lupus Organization has several resources on lupus information and clinical trials: Clinical Trials: http://www.lupustrials.org/ http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct/search?term=lupus&submit=Search http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17336693 http://arthritis.about.com/od/lupusresearch/Lupus_Research_Lupus_Clinical_Trials.htm

Additional information about lupus: http://health.nih.gov/topic/Lupus http://www.niams.nih.gov/Health_Info/Lupus/default.asp http://arthritis.about.com/od/lupus/Lupus_Cause_Symptoms_Diagnosis_Treatment.htm http://www.wchstv.com/newsroom/healthyforlife/2517.shtml

Additional Resources:

Lupus Research Institute S.L.E. Lupus Foundation Lupus Canada Lupus Foundation of America Alliance for Lupus Research Lupus Alliance of America Lupus Foundation of Colorado Lupus Foundation of Northern California Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL

Research: Research is being done to show the link between certain proteins and their ability to create autoreactive antibodies and the inflammation that results. Articles on this subject include references to possible new lupus drugs. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/20/business/20lupus.html Nutritional approaches can affect the symptoms of lupus as can regular exercise. See http://www.ncpad.org/disability/fact_sheet.php?sheet=39&view=all&PHPSESSID=c19420ce309ac43a39ad1652835d5680, http://www.beatlupus.com, and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/lupus_treatment. Other research areas involve Identifying indicative proteins in lupus nephritis. Reference: http://lupus.about.com/od/currentlupusresearch/Current_Lupus_Research.htm

References:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1025257/pdf/brheartj00017-0039.pdf http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12296294 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12392779 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20085628?itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum&ordinalpos=1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11976192

External links: The Beat Lupus Organization: http://www.beatlupus.com.