Newswise — DETROIT, March 12, 2015 – March is National Autoimmune Disease Awareness Month 2015.

To mark the annual event, the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association Inc. (AARDA) will host The State of Autoimmune Disease: A National Summit at the National Press Club on Monday, March 23, 2015. It will be held in the Holeman Lounge, NPC, 529 14th Street NW, Washington, DC, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

The summit will bring together leading experts in research, environment, advocacy and patient issues to share the most current trends in autoimmune disease (AD) research on potential causes/triggers, diagnosis and treatments, among others. Panels will include:

● Autoimmune Disease Research: A View from Academia, Government and the Private Sectors● Autoimmune Disease and Fatigue: What’s the Connection?● Autoimmunity and the Environment● Top Autoimmune Advocacy Issues for 2015● Patient Perspective: Getting an Autoimmune Disease Diagnosis

During the Autoimmune Disease and Fatigue panel, AARDA will release the results of a new national survey of AD patients that examines the impact, if any, that fatigue – a largely unrecognized AD-related symptom – has had on their lives.

Award-winning American writer, poet and editor Meghan O’Rourke will serve as luncheon keynote speaker. O’Rourke will share her own personal story with autoimmune disease and her struggle for a correct diagnosis, which she first detailed in a moving account in The New Yorker.

Tickets are free and available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Please RSVP by Monday, March 16 to: https://aardasummit.eventbrite.com.

About Autoimmune DiseaseAutoimmune disease disproportionately affects women. Of the 50 million Americans living and coping with ADs, more than 75 percent are women. AD is one of the top 10 leading causes of death of women under the age of 65. It encompasses more than 100 diseases, including psoriasis, Graves’ disease, Sjogren’s syndrome, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease and lupus. It is responsible for more than $100 billion in direct health care costs annually.

About AARDAAmerican Autoimmune Related Diseases Association (AARDA) is the nation's only non-profit organization dedicated to bringing a national focus to autoimmunity as a category of disease and a major women's health issue, and promoting a collaborative research effort in order to find better treatments and a cure for all autoimmune diseases. For more information, please visit www.aarda.org.

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