Autoimmune Life Blog

A microbiome is a collection of microorganisms that create a “mini-ecosystem” – and there are 100 trillion bacteria inside your intestinal tract! Many gastrointestinal (GI) bacteria live in the gut and help with digestion.

Lupus, also known as Systemic Lupus Erythematosus or SLE, is a complex disease that can be difficult to diagnose. It affects many areas of body including the joints, skin and kidneys. More than 200,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with lupus each year.

With the help of generous volunteers, BRI scientists have been able to move autoimmune and immune-mediated disease research forward.

Whether kicking off a new school year or returning to school after a new diagnosis, one of the best ways to ensure your child is safe and supported at school is to help the people around them understand Type 1 diabetes.

My son Peter was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes just before his third birthday. At the time, he was in the stretch run of potty training. Incentivised with M&M’s, Peter was using the toilet more and more frequently. He was also insatiably thirsty.

We started this blog to bring more awareness and understanding of autoimmune disease, which is so common, yet often so misunderstood. According to the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association, only 13 percent of Americans can name one autoimmune disease!

In the 1950s, when Jack Wimpress, a talented Boeing aerodynamics engineer, and his late wife, Doris, a dedicated nurse, began their family, they were a statistical anomaly. “Three out of four of our children developed type 1 diabetes,” says Jack. “Everyone told us that this wasn’t possible.”

Indigo Philo was a freshman in college when she began to get painful stomach cramps and an overwhelming sense of urgency to go to the bathroom.

Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason (BRI) is waging a comprehensive fight against rheumatoid arthritis (RA). “During the last 15 years, treatments for RA have improved enormously with new therapies,” says BRI President Jane Buckner, MD, who is leading this work.