First Lupus Treatment Breakthrough in 52 Years!

I'm a day late, but celebration is in order for Lupus sufferers and the people who love them, researchers, medical professionals, advocates, and anyone who understand the far-reaching effects of a chronic illness.Yesterday - March 9, 2011 - was a crucial milestone in medical history. The U.S. Food And Drug Administration (FDA) has officially approved BENLYSTA®, for the treatment of lupus, an autoimmune disease!  This development marks a "new era of improved diagnosis, prevention, and treatment for the disease."

Give the Lupus Foundation of America's website a glance and check out the story that is making front page news! I'd also suggest reading Christine Miserandino's awesome article, " Benlysta Was Approved And Hope Was Born - A Lupus Patient's Perspective." The second blog post I ever wrote was about Christine and her phenomenal "spoon theory". Christine is the author of ButYouDontLookSick.com and, having lived with Lupus for over half of her life and being a main advocate for Lupus research, her overwhelming joy is evident in this piece!








Here is a video message from Sandra C. Raymond, the President and CEO of the Lupus Foundation of America (Note: if you can't see the video properly and wish for it to "pop out",  just double click on the video screen itself and it should make it bigger):





Here is another video message from  Gary S. Gilkeson, MD, Chair of LFA Medical-Scientific Advisory Council, and Joan T. Merril, MD, LFA Medical Director, speaking about what a new treatment may mean for the future of lupus patients.





And finally, please take a minute and watch this video of Kelly Jean Drury speaking about what a new treatment means to her as someone living with lupus:

To learn even more about lupus, take a look around the Lupus Foundation of America's website: http://www.lupus.org. If you wish to become a volunteer for the Lupus Foundation, click here for opportunities.




I'm sending a huge CONGRATULATIONS to everyone who will be impacted by this awesome news (as is the doctor below, I believe)! Here's to many more breakthroughs...

Love,
Maya