Autoimmune Diseases Association
(aka) American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association
22100 Gratiot Avenue
Eastpointe, MI 48021
Phone: 888-856-9433
Mission
50 million Americans have autoimmune diseases, including lupus, type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and more than 100 other chronic disorders. AARDA provides education and support services; protects access to life-saving meds; and funds vital research.
Success Story
The broad topics of research, education, and service programs get the headlines, but a better snapshot of AARDA can be told through those who call on us. Some examples:
* The young woman, recently diagnosed with the autoimmune disease "lupus" who came to us pregnant and despondent. In questioning her, we discovered a history of miscarriages and suggested she be tested for antiphospholipid syndrome (a little known, but treatable, autoimmune disease that can cause fetal loss). It led to her first successful full-term baby.
* The day we intervened for the distraught family of a nine-year-old who was going blind from uveitis (an autoimmune eye disease) by getting him into a research program at the National Institutes of Health.
* The 18-year-old girl with acute vasculitis, but without the underlying disease diagnosis needed to properly treat it. We uncovered a family history of "lupus," "CFS," "Graves' disease" and Type I Diabetes, and spotted the necessary puzzle pieces that led to a diagnosis of "Wegener's" disease. She's now getting appropriate treatment and leading a near normal life again.
