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Appearance
of Health and Vitality can shroud Autoimmune
Diseases in Men
Newswise
— The recent report out of the Annals of
Internal Medicine profiling President John
F. Kennedy’s autoimmune disease surprised
many Americans due to his appearance
throughout his presidency of health and
vitality. However, those who study
autoimmune diseases know that the outward
manifestation of many autoimmune diseases
can often lead the public to believe that
the person suffering is perfectly healthy.
It is this outward appearance of health that
is one of the major barriers for patients
who suffer from autoimmune diseases to
obtain a proper diagnosis.
A study by the
American Autoimmune Related Diseases
Association (AARDA) showed that typically it
take an autoimmune patient four years and
visits with upwards of four physicians to
obtain a proper diagnosis and begin
treatment.
President Kennedy is not the only popular
public figure to have suffered from
autoimmune diseases largely in silence.
For
example, men such as former President George H.W. Bush suffers from Graves’ disease, a
glandular autoimmune disease affecting the
thyroid gland.
In addition, Fox Business
News anchor Neil Cavuto, the late comedian
and actor Bernie Mac, and Poison lead singer
and reality television star Bret Michaels,
as well as Seattle Seahawks wide receiver
Bobby Engram all developed some form of
autoimmune disease.
Although, typically
autoimmune diseases affect women more often
than men, with some ratios, such as in the
case of lupus as high as 9:1, it is clear
that men, too, get autoimmune diseases.
Autoimmune disease patients who outwardly
appear to be fine but are battling daily
limitations involved with chronic illness
such as fatigue, muscle weakness, and
chronic pain can often encounter
difficulties on the job, as well as with
friends and family.
A recent comment from a
patient on AARDA’s Autoimmunity Forum
exemplifies these problems: “In alot of
cases those with autoimmune look healthy.
So, those people around them who may not
fully understand the nature of each
particular illness think that they are lazy
or crazy. Even doctors treat you like you
are a hypochondriac. All of this makes those
with autoimmune feel like they are nuts.
Families and friends do not understand why
you can't sleep, or why you are so tired.
You hear things like ‘if you would just do
this or do that...’ but all that does it
make you feel worse because you know you
have very little control over this illness
that has taken over your WHOLE LIFE!!”
In the same AARDA study that determined how
difficult it is to obtain a diagnosis, it
was also found that patients were often told
that they were chronic complainers or too
concerned with their health.
While the statistics do indicate that this
is a major women’s health issue, the current
report surrounding President Kennedy’s
autoimmune problems highlight the fact that
women’s propensity for autoimmune diseases
is not the whole story.
According to
Virginia T. Ladd, President and Executive
Director of the AARDA, “Men, too, can get
autoimmune diseases; and when men do acquire
an autoimmune disease, it is often found
that they have a more severe case of that
disease.
It is because of this that we at AARDA launched our “Men Get Autoimmune
Diseases, Too” campaign in 2008. We wanted
to ensure that (1) men who began having
symptoms would think to consider autoimmune
diseases as a possibility and would have the
knowledge to express their concern with a
primary care physician -- even if they have
the outward appearance of perfect health.
(2) Additionally, we wanted to ensure that
men know that autoimmune diseases have a
genetic component in that they tend to
cluster in families, meaning that if your
mother has lupus, your cousin has Addison’s
disease, and your great-grandfather suffered
from rheumatoid arthritis, then you could be
at higher risk.”
There are more than 80 diseases that are
currently classified as autoimmune, of which
ankylosing spondylitis, type 1 diabetes,
Wegener’s granulomatosis, and psoriasis have
been shown just as likely to develop in men
as in women. For more information about
autoimmune diseases, contact AARDA on the
Web at
www.aarda.org or by phone at
586-776-3900.
About the American Autoimmune Related
Diseases Association (AARDA)
The American Autoimmune Related Diseases
Association is dedicated to the eradication
of autoimmune diseases and the alleviation
of suffering and the socioeconomic impact of
autoimmunity through fostering and
facilitating collaboration in the areas of
education, public awareness, research, and
patient services in an effective, ethical
and efficient manner.
AARDA is the only national nonprofit health
agency dedicated to bringing a national
focus to autoimmunity, the major cause of
serious chronic diseases.
According to the
National Institutes of Health (NIH) 23.5
million Americans suffer from one of the
more than 80 diseases classified as
autoimmune. Women are more likely than men
to be affected; estimates say that 75
percent of those affected are women.
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