SJB Interdisciplinary Autoimmune Disease Interest Group

AMWA Region 5 Conference

Tomorrow the National will be visiting our campus to talk about the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Clinical Mentorship Program for Medical Students.

MS is an autoimmune degenerative demyelinating disease that affects the Central Nervous System.

Three of our directive members that were accepted in the program will also be sharing their personal experiences from this past Summer in Tampa, New Orleans, and Chicago! If you can’t make it, you can DM them for more information - , , & .

This activity was brought to SJB by ! Follow their account if you’re interested in Neurology.💯

It's official!! Our sticker sale has started!! You asked for it and we made it happen, thanks to the amazing artwork of . Buy one and let us make a difference together! All funds will be used towards raising Autoimmune Disease Awareness.

One sticker for $3.00 and if you but two or more, $2.50 each sticker. You can buy them today at by contacting Stephanie M. Riera, Nicole Marie Febles Sierra or Marjorie Suarez, or send us a message!

El evento vascular cerebral (EVC) causa un déficit neurológico súbito como resultado de alteraciones en la circulación del cerebro.

Hay dos tipos de eventos:

1. El isquémico (más frecuente 80%), ocurre cuando un vaso sanguíneo se obstruye y limita el flujo sanguíneo al tejido cerebral.

2. El hemorrágico (menos frecuente pero fatal), ocurre tras la ruptura de un vaso sanguíneo y se divide en hemorragia intracerebral (HIC) y hemorragia subaracnoidea (HSA). .

📌Los factores de riesgo incluyen: hipertensión, diabetes, colesterol alto, alteraciones en la coagulación, inflamación crónica, etc. .

📌La hipertensión es el factor modificable más importante. .

📌El 80% de los EVC son prevenibles. .

📌Existe un mayor riesgo de enfermedad cardiovascular en enfermedades reumáticas como Lupus (LES), Síndrome de Anticuerpos Antifosfolípidos (SAAF), Artritis Reumatoide (AR), vasculitis, entre otras.

📌Una de las explicaciones es el desarrollo de ateroesclerosis temprana inducida por inflamación crónica y el rol de los autoanticuerpos (se forman placas de colesterol en la pared de los vasos sanguíneos). Hay que tomar en cuenta las comorbilidades causadas por tratamientos como hipertensión, diabetes, etc secundaria al uso de cortisona. .
📌En enfermedades del colágeno como AR, LES, esclerodermia, pueden existir alteraciones en la estructura del vaso, causando disecciones y aneurismas.

📌Los eventos hemorrágicos se asocian a hipertensión, ruptura de aneurismas, uso de anticoagulantes.


📌El EVC es la manifestación arterial más frecuente en SAAF. .

📌Pacientes con LES tienen 3 veces mayor riesgo, principalmente en jóvenes y/ o diagnóstico de larga evolución. El riesgo es aún mayor si coexiste con SAAF. .

📌El EVC es responsable de alrededor del 10-15% de muertes en este grupo de pacientes. .

📌 Los antimaláricos (hidroxicloroquina, cloroquina) cumplen una función protectora. Los AINE’s y los corticoesteroides se han asociado a mayor riesgo, sin embargo, el ácido acetilsalicílico ha mostrado una gran eficacia en la prevención de trombos. .

📌 Los niños con enfermedades reumáticas también pueden sufrir de un evento

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Posted • .autoimmune Autoimmune diseases (AID) are the third most common category of disease after cancer and cardiovascular conditions. They may develop at any age, although some are more common during childhood and adolescence such as type 1 diabetes, some in the mid- adult years such as multiple sclerosis (MS) and lupus, and some among older adults such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA). .

Prevalence is on the rise and it´s estimated to increase 19% per year. Currently, 1 out of 9 women and 1 out of 12 adults suffer some autoimmune disease. This is the main reason it´s believed we´re living an autoimmune epidemic.

Posted • 🙏🏻I can’t tell you how many times I have said this to myself over the last 11 years in some way, shape, or form. Autoimmune diseases are relentless. I’ve always said to people that I just felt like a sitting duck, waiting for the next disease to creep into my life. Waiting for the next flare. Waiting for the next medication to not work for me. Waiting to feel excruciating pain. The amount of times I felt like I was going to have a mental breakdown when I was in the thick of battling my diseases was unreal.


Ive cried (and not just regular crying, full blown scream crying — we all know the one) more times than I can count. From being in so much pain that I couldn’t get out of my bed to even stand up because my ankles were so insanely swollen that I would start blacking out when I tried to get up. I remember those days. The days that felt like it was never going to get better.


But I also would tell myself you are a survivor. You are strong. It’s going to be okay. Maybe not today, not tomorrow, not a week from now, hell maybe not 6 months from now. But it will be, because you’re stronger than these diseases. And I would repeat this to myself multiple times a day until I actually started to believe it. I let it sink in. And I did get stronger. Even when it wasn’t possible to get physically stronger because of the diseases, I became mentally stronger. And that strength carried me through the physical pain. And it got me through it. So in case no one has told you today — You’re a freaking bad ass. Don’t you forget it. You. Are. So. STRONG💪🏻👊🏻

We learned about the different therapeutic indications for the Botox Injection, including the treatment for overactive bladder, cervical dystonia, blepharospasm, strabismus, chronic migraine, focal spasticity, severe axillary hyperhidrosis, among others symptoms that are seen in a lot of patients with autoimmune diseases.