Photo Credit: Alpha Chapter
The lovely ladies of Gamma Eta’s Alpha Chapter have been busy bees lately by planning their 9th annual Lupus Awareness fashion show that will end the semester with a bang. This year’s theme is entitled, “Beats Building Hope”. According to the event’s Facebook page, their goal is to bring “a music festival experience by focusing on four popular genres of music: pop, hip-hop, techno, and latin; and creating a colorful representation of each style through clothing.” Talk about diversity! But first, let’s get educated on what lupus is.
What Is Lupus?
Lupus is an autoimmune disease. Autoimmune means your immune system cannot tell the difference between foreign invaders and your body’s healthy tissues and creates autoantibodies that attack and destroy healthy tissue. These autoantibodies cause inflammation, pain, and damage in various parts of the body. Lupus is also a disease of flares and remissions. Lupus is not contagious nor is there a cure for it. There are, however, treatments that can be taken in order to control lupus.
What Are The Common Symptoms Of Lupus?
Lupus affects many different organs, therefore, a wide range of symptoms can occur. These symptoms are:
- extreme fatigue
- headaches
- painful or swollen joints
- fever
- anemia
- swelling in the feet, legs, hands and/or around the eyes
- pain in the chest when breathing deeply
- butterfly-shaped rash across the cheeks and nose
- sun or light-sensitivity
- hair loss
- abnormal blood clotting
- fingers turning white and/or blue when cold
- mouth or nose ulcers
How Is Lupus Diagnosed?
A doctor who is considering the possibility of lupus will first look for signs of inflammation which include pain, heat, redness, swelling, and loss of function at a particular place in the body. Inflammation can occur on the inside of your body (such as your heart or kidneys), on the outside (such as your skin), or possibly both. Lupus is known in the medical field as the “great imitator” solely because the symptoms of lupus mimics many other illnesses. Before a doctor diagnoses a patient with lupus, they carefully evaluate and review your current symptoms, your laboratory test results, your medical history, and the medical history of your immediate family members.
Become a part of the movement and model for a cause. With just five dollars, you can support the cause and walk down the runway with a purpose. With your help, and the help of the lovely ladies of Gamma Eta’s Alpha Chapter, the world can be one fashion show closer to discovering a cure.