Medicare Nation

May 10th was World Lupus Day. So today, we wanted to highlight the disease so that we can get the word out.     Linda Ruescher, author, public speaker and Lupus advocate is our guest today. Linda actually has Lupus as well.   How many people in the US have Lupus?   1.5 Million people in the US.   What is LUPUS?   An auto-immune disease in which your body mistakes other body parts are toxins and invaders and tries to kill them. Lupus doesn’t have one particular body part that it targets. It can go after any part of your body.   Lupus can be difficult to diagnose because:   It flares instead of being chronic The symptoms are the same as other diseases There is no definitive test for Lupus Generally they try to diagnose other things first A rheumatologist can be necessary to get a diagnosis     Lupus is like having a never-ending flu. The symptoms are the same, and the body reacts in the same way.   After 38 years undiagnosed, Linda was diagnosed in 2003. She is treated today with immune-suppressing drugs. She