Through their support, education, awareness and advocacy initiatives, Lupus Ontario is striving to one day create a Life Without Lupus.
Lupus is a life-changing and sometimes fatal disease which often strikes young adults in the prime of their lives. Through our research campaigns and major fundraising events like the Walk for Lupus Ontario, we at Lupus Ontario hope to one day create a Life Without Lupus.
No one knows for sure what causes lupus. What we do know is that the immune system, the body’s defense against viruses and bacteria, isn’t able to tell the difference between intruders and the body’s tissues, resulting in the immune system attacking parts of the body, causing inflammation, and creating the symptoms of lupus. It isn’t contagious and it belongs in a family of diseases that includes rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, juvenile diabetes, and scleroderma.
Lupus is a chronic disease caused by inflammation in one or more parts of the body. The majority of people diagnosed with lupus are women between the ages of 15 and 45. Especially impacted are communities that include women of African, Asian, Caribbean, and Indigenous descent.
Lupus Ontario takes great pride in providing the Annual Geoff Carr Fellowship. Established in 1990, it was named in honour of the President of the Association of Commercial Travellers and a key supporter of the Fellowship. Since its inception, Lupus Ontario has trained 30 rheumatologists at an Ontario Lupus clinic to become experts in the treatment of lupus through clinical experience, and each has produced valuable research into the management of the disease.
Lupus Ontario is a team of caring and enthusiastic volunteers and staff who are passionately committed to helping those with lupus live longer and better by raising funds that deliver vital support, education, awareness, and research. It’s the largest provincial voluntary organization dedicated to improving the lives of people living with lupus. Its volunteers and staff have been providing support, furthering education, improving public awareness, advocacy and research for over 40 years.
Unfortunately, there’s no cure for lupus. Treatment can only hope to make the sufferer comfortable at best. This is why early detection is so important.
