Lupus Awareness Month

WHEREAS, each year, the Lupus Foundation of America designates May as National Lupus Awareness Month to show support for the estimated 1.5 million Americans who have lupus; and

WHEREAS, lupus is an acute and chronic autoimmune disease in which the immune system is unbalanced, causing inflammation and tissue damage to virtually every organ system in the body; and

WHEREAS, lupus can affect any part of the body, including the skin, lungs, heart, kidneys and brain; no organ is spared, and the disease can cause seizures, strokes, heart attacks, miscarriages and organ failure; and

WHEREAS, while lupus strikes mostly women of childbearing age, no one is safe from lupus; African-Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, Asians and Native Americans are two to three times more likely to develop lupus – a disparity that remains unexplained; and

WHEREAS, 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 take four or more years and visit three or more doctors before obtaining a correct diagnosis:

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Robert Bentley, Governor of Alabama, do hereby proclaim the month of May 2013, as

Lupus Awareness Month

in the state of Alabama and urge citizens to observe this month by educating themselves on the symptoms and impact of lupus.

Given Under My Hand and the Great Seal of the Office of the Governor at the State Capitol in the City of Montgomery on the 11th day of April 2013.

                        

Robert Bentley, Governor