Autoimmune Warrior

Carrie Ann Inaba Opens Up About Struggling with Fibromyalgia and Other Autoimmune Conditions

Carrie Ann Inaba, world-famous dancer and judge on the reality TV show Dancing with the Stars, opened up to fans about her struggle living with multiple autoimmune and chronic health conditions, including fibromyalgia, Sjogren’s syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, spinal stenosis and antiphospholipid syndrome (APL).

Carrie Ann shared that she has come to feel ashamed about her health issues, stating “I feel so much shame when I go through these things, because I want to be what people see. And people see a healthy person, from the outside.” On the positive side, Carrie Ann says that confronting her health issues has helped her to learn about who she is, besides being a “sexy dancer chick”. 

Carrie Ann says that despite the pain and other symptoms that she battles on a daily basis, she credits her improved health to staying active through practicing yoga and pilates, as well as seeking altnerative treatments like Craniosacral therapy, acupuncture and Reiki.

To learn more about her inspiring story, click here.

Sjogren’s Syndrome Foundation Launches YouTube Video Series

The Sjogren’s Syndrome Foundation (SSF) launched an informative new video series called Exploring Sjogren’s. The videos aim to discuss the complexities of living with the disease and the issues involved with conquering it.

The foundation says that the a new episode will premiere every Monday on their YouTube channel. To learn more about the video series, visit the SSF website by clicking here.

To view the first episode in the series, check out the Exploring Sjogren’s YouTube channel here.

Researchers Discover New Autoimmune Disease Causing Muscle Pain and Weakness

Researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri have identified a new autoimmune disease that causes muscle pain and weakness.

Dr. Alan Pestronk, who leads the university’s Neuromuscular Disease Clinic and works as a professor of neurology, immunology and pathology, says that they have only observed four cases of the disease over the past 22 years.

Dr. Pestronk first observed the disease in 1996, when looking at microscope slides of muscle from a patient experiencing muscle pain and weakness. He noticed that immune scavenger cells called histiocytes that normally feed on dead material were crowded around injured muscle fibers.

He and his colleagues then encountered three more similar cases over more than two decades, each time analyzing detailed biopsies of the patients’ muscle tissue. The four cases discovered were enough to name a new autoimmune disease, large-histiocyte-related immune myopathy.

To learn more about the discovery of this autoimmune disease, click here.