how to start recognizing a wolf

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Text: Alberto Zamora

On occasion World Lupus Day, which will take place on May 10, featured a series of events designed to highlight the importance of knowing what lupus is and how the community can help patients living with the disease; at the same time, awareness is increasing about the importance of early diagnosis of this disease.

In this context Fernando Torres Football Stadium organized an event to raise awareness about this disease. Counting on availability GSK, F-League Sponsorthe start of the match, in which between Madrid CFF and Real Madrid CF, was taken Silvia Pérez Ortega, President of the Spanish Lupus Federation (FELUPUS) and a visible face of the organization at the event.

The match ended in victory for the visiting players, but on such a special occasion the goals take a backseat as the aim was to ensure that those present, who filled the stadium despite the rain, began to understand what a goal was. .lupus and raise awareness of this disease.

What is lupus?

One of the challenges faced by patients living with lupus is the lack of public knowledge about the disease.

No one better than Silvia Perez Ortega can explain what this pathology is: “Lupus is systemic autoimmune disease, chronic in nature and occurring in outbreaks, non-contagiouswhich can affect any tissue or organ, including joints, skin, kidneys, blood cells, brain, heart and lungs.”. This is far from a rare disease; its statistics show that “It occurs in a higher percentage of young women (1 man in every 9 women), usually in people between 15 and 50 years of age (fertile age). In Spain, the patient registry numbers approximately 96,000 people.”. And one of the problems of this pathology is the variety of symptoms that represent “great heterogeneity, which complicates early diagnosis, so organic damage that accumulates throughout the disease turns out to be more extensive and irreversible”.

In order to solve this problem in 1996 Spanish Lupus Federation (FELUPUS), originating from “Misinformation of those years about the disease and an uncertain future”what caused “Some brave patients will begin this journey”

always with a purpose “help improve the psychological, social and health outcomes of people living with lupus”.

Campaign “There is a wolf among us”

The initiative comes from FELUPUS alliance with the Spanish Society of Rheumatology (SER) and GSKto support people living with lupus.

In Latin, lupus means wolf, and erythematosus means red. In the 19th century, the disease received its name due to the similarity of the rash on the face to a wolf bite.

Three campaign goals “A Wolf Among Us” are:

• Make illness visible, so that the people living with her can feel understood and supported during the process. This is a key aspect in various patient environments as, for example, according to the latest FELUPUS2 study, in the workplace, 23% of patients had their productivity affected, while in the personal sphere this figure rises to 35%.
• Raise awareness of early treatment. Symptoms vary greatly from person to person, so lupus can go undetected, delaying diagnosis. It is extremely important to detect the disease as early as possible, since this allows timely control of the disease and limit the accumulation of organic damage. Some of the symptoms are muscle and joint pain, extreme fatigue, weakness, skin rash, sores in the mouth or nose, and headache and fever for no apparent reason. Knowing the possible symptoms is important when detecting the disease. If you experience any of these symptoms, contact your doctor; Like the wolf, some illnesses are hidden behind appearances.
• Provide support to patients. Help patients gain information and allow them to surround themselves with other people with the disease, as well as associations that will make them accompany and not feel alone in this process.

In conclusion, according to Silvia Pérez Ortega, campaigns such as “There is a wolf among us”, carried out by companies such as GSK, allow “Raise awareness on social and health issues, including among government, to promote research and reconcile inclusion without stigma. In addition, they contribute to the existence of quality information that helps educate people living with lupus. They guide, support, inform and educate patients.”.