Welcome
2014-15 Speaker Honorarium
Invited speakers to the Lakeville Rotary Club will be given an option to choose a speaker honorarium to be donated to a to a 501 (c)(3) charitable organization of their choice or to the Clubs 2014-15 designated fund, Lupus Foundation of Minnesota.
Founded in 1976, the Lupus Foundation of Minnesota (LFM) will celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2016, working for four decades in Minnesota to realize their vision of a world without lupus.
The organization’s mission is “while working towards finding a cure, we support those impacted by lupus and promote a deeper understanding of the disease.”
As an independent, non-profit charitable organization, they accomplish this by supporting research that seeks to improve the diagnosis and treatment of lupus as well as to discover its cause and cure, and by providing education, support and service to those impacted by lupus including promoting awareness and understanding of lupus and its impact to the broader community.
There are four types of lupus
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE)
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is typically the most common form of lupus and is generally considered more serious than the other three forms. SLE can affect many parts of a person’s body, including kidneys, heart, lungs, brain, blood and skin. Symptoms tend to vary among patients and can change often and suddenly. Although not limited to the SLE type, lupus can follow an unpredictable pattern of remissions (symptoms disappear) and flares (active symptoms).
Discoid (Cutaneous)
Discoid is a form of lupus that only affects the skin and causes rashes. These rashes may be anywhere but are usually found on the face, neck and scalp. This type of lupus does not affect any of the internal body organs although 1 in 10 people living with discoid lupus will develop systemic lupus.
Sometimes people living with lupus get a malar rash, which is often referred to as a butterfly rash. This rash commonly extends from one cheek over the nose to the other cheek. The rash was named lupus because early physicians believed the rash looked a lot like the bite of a wolf (lupus is the Latin word for wolf).
Drug-induced Lupus (DIL)
Drug-induced Lupus (DIL) occurs after a person takes certain types of medication. The symptoms are similar to systemic lupus, but they usually disappear when the medicine is stopped. Symptoms are typically gone within six months, however the Antinuclear Antibody (ANA) test (used to help diagnose lupus) may stay positive for years. About 20 percent of the general population will have a positive ANA test.
Neonatal Lupus
In rare cases, the newborn of a mom with lupus may have neonatal lupus. This condition can cause skin rashes, anemia or liver problems. Symptoms usually go away after a few months and don’t cause permanent damage. Some babies with neonatal lupus can be born with a serious heart defect.
Staff at the Lupus Foundation of Minnesota (LFM) include licensed professionals who provide counseling and other services to individuals, families and caregivers. These include: case management; individual, family and group counseling; crisis intervention and referrals.
For more information visit, www.lupusmn.org.