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The foundation is grateful to its donors who support their activities
The foundation is grateful to its donors who support their activities

‘Sweetness’ highlights bitter autoimmune disease

The role of the immune system is to protect the body against diseases or other potentially damaging foreign bodies. 

What then happens when the very system designed to protect the body attacks and destroys healthy body tissues by mistake?

Unlike many other diseases that have well-established causes, symptoms and treatments, autoimmune diseases just ‘pop up’ with no known causes and symptoms that range from hair loss, skin deterioration, kidney problems, headache, joint pain and general ill feeling, amongst others.

For Mrs Emma Wilhemina Halm Danso, who prefers to be called Sweetness, it took doctors eight years to finally conclude that she had lupus, one of the many autoimmune diseases.

Sweetness attended the 12th International Congress on Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) and the 7th Asian Congress on Autoimmunity held in Melbourne, Australia

She recounts how she had to go through several tests with different specialists before they finally diagnosed her of her ailment.

“It started off with malaria symptoms so  I was put on malaria treatment and other multivitamins which sustained me for some time. The symptoms and feeling of general illness, however,  kept coming for years till I started showing some extreme signs, including dark palms, bloating and severe hair loss,” she recounted.

She said there were days that the pains were so severe that she had to completely depend on her husband to go about her normal activities.

“A lot of people give up before the diagnosis because it is very expensive and emotionally draining. Every day, something different shows up. The cost of medication to control the disease is  very expensive and a lot of people cannot afford it.”

Oyeman Autoimmune Foundation is creating awareness on autoimmune diseases through regular advocacy programmes with selected groups

Silent killer 

Sweetness explained that there were a lot of people languishing in prayer camps and herbal centres because their relatives attributed the disease to some sort of spiritual attack.

“Some time back, I slept and woke up with severe burns on my thighs and parts of my legs. I had not been involved in an accident,  neither had I felt any pains the night before. I only realised I had the burns after I started feeling severe pain around that part of my body.

“You know from our part of the world, it is easy for people to attribute some occurrences to evil spirits.  If I didn’t have a family that understood my condition and its repercussions, I am sure I would have been tagged a witch.”

Sweetness believes she can contribute to reducing the number of deaths caused by autoimmune diseases

Oyeman Autoimmune Foundation

Out of her personal experience of suffering from these disorders for some years, Sweetness set up the Oyeman Autoimmune Foundation in 2011 to provide support for people and families living with such disorders.

The focus of the group is to raise awareness on the existence of such diseases and how family and friends of sufferers can help handle it.

“It is very depressing for someone to go through this crisis alone. Such people need constant support from friends, family, employers and colleagues at work. Personally, I had to quit my job because I couldn’t be stable for a long period.

“We believe several people lose their lives because they do not know or understand what is happening to them. I am optimistic that through such campaigns, we will be able to save more lives,” she added.

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