Autoimmune Life Blog

Did you know family members of people with type 1 diabetes (T1D) have a 15 times greater risk of developing the disease themselves?  And did you know that all it takes to find out if you are at risk of developing T1D is a simple risk screening?

If you ask two different people what they know about lupus, odds are you could get completely different responses. Why? Because lupus is notoriously hard to identify, and its complexity is often misunderstood. Just check out how many different types there are, and you’ll start to get an idea.

As a research nurse practitioner, I provide care for chil­dren and adults participating in type 1 diabetes research at Benaroya Research Institute.

If you’re one of the 220 to 520 million people around the world living with a food allergy, odds are you have to think about it every day (World Allergy Organization, 47).

Chris Boerner was diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis when she was 14 years old. If you don’t know what that is, it’s probably one of the most unwelcome things to happen to a young girl just starting high school.

Awaiting a colonoscopy in a Tri-Cities, Wash., emergency room was the last place Angie Neal expected to find herself. The 33-year-old Olympia native was the epitome of health: she exercised regularly, ate healthy foods and had never been overweight.

Like many people with a connection to a chronic disease, I do my best to keep up with news about trials and studies that could, just maybe, yield new preventions and treatments. Unfortunately, science does not always succeed in the traditional sense.

Do you have a loved one who was recently diagnosed with a condition such as Type 1 Diabetes, Multiple Sclerosis, or Crohn’s? Conditions like these are part of a family of 80 + diseases caused by autoimmunity, and they are often connected genetically.

Your early 20s are often a time of major life change. You may have just moved away from home for the first time, started college, or joined the military. Your health care or medical routine may have become unbalanced or even nonexistent.

Virginia Mason is currently home to more than 100 clinical studies that give patients in nearly every clinical department a chance to participate in research and access new treatments.