Kick Lupus word cloud competition winner!

The LUPUS EUROPE 2018 convention is underway in Leuven, Belgium and among the serious speeches on medical and psychological topics, we were delighted to be presented the beautiful (and very creative) word cloud entries in the Kick Lupus competition. All in all there were 35 entries to the competition, a great response! The judges on […]

A mother’s story

For World Lupus Day, Anne Charlet, vice chair of LUPUS EUROPE, was interviewed by MedTech. When Anne Charlet’s teenage daughter complained of extreme fatigue, she thought it was just end-of-school year tiredness or anaemia. But a precautionary blood test that revealed an unusually low platelet count led to a completely unexpected diagnosis several months later: […]

Kikka’s story

My Lupus story doesn’t start in 1993 with an SLE diagnosis, but eight years earlier in 1985, when at the age of 22 I got pneumonia for the first time. O spent two weeks in hospital with a horde of doctors around my bed wondering why antibiotics weren’t working. The oldest doctor mentioned that I […]

Katharine’s story

When it was first suggested that I write a patient story for Lupus Europe, I have to say that I felt a little uncomfortable. Firstly, I’m an intensely private person and have so far never wanted to write about myself or write a blog. Secondly my ‘lupus’ is relatively mild (in the medical sense rather […]

Anna’s story

I met my Lupus on a sunny day of April 2003 when I was 23 years old. A year ago, I was hospitalized because I fainted with seizures. At the time, the doctors told me that anyone can have such episodes once or twice during their life. However, a neurologist in training thought that I was […]

Yvonne’s story

  My story – by Yvonne from the Netherlands On 6 July 2004, I woke up with a tremendous pain in my right hand. Because I also had a slight rash, my GP immediately referred me to a dermatologist. He examined me and referred me to a rheumatologist because he had a hunch what might be […]

Claudine’s story

For World Lupus Day, we have collected a few patient stories which we hope you will enjoy. If you have a story to tell, feel free to get in touch and send your story to katharine@lupus-europe.org! All stories will remain visible on this page of the blog. My life with lupus – living to the […]

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😃 Throwback to the HMA/EMA Multi-Stakeholder Workshop on Artificial Intelligence.

Watching Alain Cornet show the world what #LupusGPT really is still gives us goosebumps! 🙌

For those who still don't know this artificial intelligence tool:

💡 LupusGPT is built by patients and doctors.
🗣️ It speaks virtually any language.
💸 It’s free and anonymous- you don’t need to create an account.
📚 It is trained exclusively on a curated repository of validated documents.
🚫 It does not invent answers.

If something is not in the repository, LupusGPT will clearly say so. It will not guess. It will not generate false information.

🥹 Seeing LupusGPT presented at such a high-level regulatory forum confirmed something important:
Patient-led innovation can meaningfully contribute to the future of AI in medicine when it is built responsibly.

🔗 Try it here! lupusgpt.org/

🧠 Are medical terms confusing? Prefer shorter explanations in simple language?
Try #EasyLupus! The easy-read version of LupusGPT: easy.lupusgpt.org/
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💜 Spotlight on our Lupus Europe Youth Group!

At the #LupusConvention, our Youth Group presented one of their initiatives: a webinar on Sex and Lupus, developed in collaboration with Dr Cristiana Sieiro Santos.

🌈 Sex and intimacy are part of young peoples' journey with lupus. However, there is still stigma and a lack of safe spaces to talk about it.

🌟 With this webinar, the Youth Group opened the conversation around intimacy, relationships and sexual health.

🎥 Watch the full webinar here: youtu.be/XBbzGh0pnIw?si=LH0qVWYIndJMSAd8

👏 Congratulations to our Youth Group for the amazing job they are doing!
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🛑 Lupus is a complex autoimmune chronic condition with symptoms and treatments that can potentially impact one’s sexual life and, consequently, quality of life.

💥 Symptoms like pain, fatigue, or joint stiffness can make physical intimacy challenging, while emotional factors such as anxiety, depression, and changes in body image can further complicate sexual well-being.

🚨In addition to lupus, overlapping conditions such as Sjögren’s disease and antiphospholipid syndrome could also be a barrier to a fulfilling sexual life, as the former can cause vaginal dryness and discomfort during intercourse, and the latter can increase the risk of complications that may affect overall well-being and intimacy.

💊 Furthermore, certain medications used to manage lupus and related conditions could potentially have adverse effects on sexual health (corticosteroids, for instance, can lead to weight gain, mood swings, and decreased libido).

‼️Although sexual dysfunction is highly prevalent among patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases (AIRD), it remains under-recognised, under-discussed & under-treated in routine clinical care.

🔊 And that is why, on this #EuropeanSexualHealthDay, we want to raise awareness about the importance of addressing sexual health as a vital component of overall well-being
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📣 Upcoming ERN RECONNET Webinar on Lupus Nephritis!

➡️ “What is the added value of triple therapy in lupus nephritis” ⬅️

🗓 11 March 2026
⏰ 4:00 p.m. CET (i.e., Paris time).

🎙 Speaker: Dr Antonis Fanouriakis
🎙 Moderators: Prof. Dr Matthias Schneider & Zoe Karakikla-Mitsakou, General Secretary of Lupus Europe.

Lupus nephritis remains one of the most serious complications of systemic lupus erythematosus, and treatment strategies continue to evolve as new evidence emerges.

🔎 This webinar will explore:
•⁠ ⁠The scientific rationale for triple therapy.
•⁠ ⁠Current clinical evidence.
•⁠ ⁠What this may mean for outcomes in lupus nephritis.

Whether you are a healthcare professional, researcher, or patient, this session is not to be missed!

Register now! us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_41Lc9osLQ6m7nOuJGGWnHw#/registration
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📣 Upcoming ERN RE