Wednesday, March 4, 2009: A spokesperson for the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association (AARDA) provided oral testimony in support of the designation of autoimmune diseases as a research priority for the Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH)/National Institutes of Health (NIH). Written and spoken testimonies were accepted during the "Moving into the Future - New Dimensions and Strategies for Women's Health Research for the National Institutes of Health" which took place March 4-6, 2009, in St. Louis, Missouri. Through a series of scientific workshops, speeches, and testimonies, the program aimed to explore new dimensions for the NIH women's health research agenda for the next decade.

AARDA President/Executive Director Virginia T. Ladd provided compelling testimony, imploring the leadership of the ORWH and NIH to understand the extraordinary need to make autoimmune diseases a top priority for research. According to Ladd, autoimmune diseases affect more than 23.5 million Americans, with a disproportionate number of those affected being women at 75 percent. Autoimmune diseases are one of the top 10 leading causes of death among women 65 and younger. Ladd went on to say that the prevalence for many of these diseases is rising and very little is understood about the reasons.

"Studies show that the incidence of multiple sclerosis in Padova, Italy, has risen from less than 100,000 cases in 1979 to over 400,000 in 1999. In Finland, incidence of type 1 diabetes has more than doubled in children in the past 30 years. Additionally, in the United States, celiac disease is more than four times more common today than it was 50 years go.

"These studies show an alarming trend that we believe is occurring throughout the United States and the world. Researchers think that this increase is due to a combination of genetic predisposition and environmental factors. It is imperative that more research projects are developed to explore what in our environment is causing this increased prevalence. Additionally, there is a need to identify more biomarkers in women to determine predisposition to autoimmune diseases so that prevention might be a possibility." (An excerpt from Virginia Ladd's testimony, March 4, 2009)

Autoimmunity is a result of a misdirected immune system that causes one's own immune system to attack the self. There are over 80 known autoimmune diseases. Some of the over 80 autoimmune diseases are lupus, type I diabetes, scleroderma, celiac, multiple sclerosis, Crohn's disease, autoimmune hepatitis, rheumatoid arthritis, Graves' disease, myasthenia gravis, myositis, antiphospholipid syndrome (APS), and Sjogren's syndrome.

To read the entire testimony from AARDA President/Executive Director Virginia Ladd, visit the AARDA website at http://www.aarda.org/issue_display.php?ID=19. For more information on autoimmune diseases contact AARDA at (586) 776-3900 or on the web at www.aarda.org.

About 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 AARDA, approximately 50 million Americans, 20 percent of the population or one in five people, suffer from autoimmune diseases. The NIH estimates that upwards of 23.5 million Americans have autoimmune diseases, but their calculation includes only about 24 of the more well-known autoimmune diseases. Women are more likely than men to be affected; some estimates say that 75 percent of those affected--some 30 million people--are women. Still, with these statistics, autoimmunity is rarely discussed as a women's health issue.