TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) -- March is Autoimmune Disease Awareness Month, and a national group is coming to the Capital City to teach the community.
The American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association (AARDA) is hosting a public forum: What Every American Needs to Know About Autoimmune Disease.
It's a place for patients, their families and the public can learn about more than 100 autoimmune diseases; coping skills when it comes to chronic illness; maintaining independence with a disability; and what to know about family history, since autoimmune diseases tend to cluster in families.
More than 50 million Americans have an autoimmune disease. There are more than 100 chronic illness included in that list, like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis (RA), Sjögrens syndrome, psoriasis, celiac disease, scleroderma, and type 1 diabetes.
According to AARDA, autoimmune diseases affect women 75 percent more often than men, and autoimmune diseases are one of the top 10 killers of women under the age of 65.
The program features Rita Baron-Faust, co-author of The Autoimmune Connection, and Dr. Noel Rose, who is known as the "The Father of Autoimmune Disease" for his discovery of thyroid autoimmunity in 1956, which led to other major breakthroughs.
The What Every American Needs to Know About Autoimmune Disease forum is Saturday, February 20 from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. at Four Points by Sheraton (316 W. Tennessee).
Registration begins at 9:30 a.m. Space is limited.
Cost is $10 and that includes lunch.
For more information, call (586) 776-3900 or click here.
