Growing up in the spotlight can be tough but as a way to educate fans has also embraced her celebrity, about being diagnosed with and living with Lupus, sometimes a chronic condition. Lupus commonly affects joints, skin, and kidneys, it is an autoimmune disease. Lupus attacks the healthy tissues in the body instead of warding off infection and disease to keep the body healthy. The symptoms and signs of the disease aren't always present. When symptoms are worse there are episodes called flares. In 2015 in a Billboard article, the singer Gomez revealed her Lupus diagnosis. In 2017 the singer revealed that her friend Francia Raisa donated a kidney and she'd received a kidney transplant. Gomez posted a photo on Instagram of the two women at the hospital. She told her fans, "After undergoing so many tests to monitor my kidneys, my doctors told me I have lupus nephritis, one of those complications from lupus. They said I would be needing a kidney transplant." Mike Katsaros, DO, a rheumatologist and the chair of the department of internal medicine at the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific at the Western University of Health Studies in Pomona, California, says, "We always recommend that patients with lupus are seen regularly by a rheumatologist because often they won't have any signs or symptoms the kidneys are being affected until it's later on when there's more and more damage,"
After diagnosis with lupus, the pop star helped to raise awareness about this autoimmune disease. Her fans expressed their support and love for the star by making donations to the Lupus Research Alliance. The president and CEO of the Lupus Research Alliance, Kenneth Farber, told E! News, "Selena has supported our organization in many ways." He explained her efforts, "donating a portion of ticket sales for her last concert toys to the Lupus Research Alliance and requesting donations to us on the occasion of her birthday, as well as yesterday's announcement. Together her appeals have raised almost $500,000 for research funded by the Lupus Research Alliance."
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Goez is focused on the disease itself, she wrote on Instagram, "Lupus continues to be very misunderstood but progress is being made." She added, "For more information regarding Lupus please go to the Lupus Research Alliance website: www.lupusresearch.org/ by grace through faith." her friend Francia posted a similar Instagram message to her social media pages. The CEO Farber told E! News, " Selena's openness and strong emotional connection to her worldwide audiences has brought extraordinary awareness to a disease that is typically overlooked." He explained, "As a result of her encouragement to visit our website, LupusResearch.org, to learn about lupus, our phones have been ringing off the hook, and our website traffic has soared." Like Lena Dunham, Demi Lovato, and Lady Gaga, Selena is also willing to speak about the illness and their experiences to help increase awareness and funding. Gomez, to support Lupus research donated to Kech School of Medicine of USC and she is a longtime advocate for health problems and research. Also, she created the fund named as "Selena Gomez Fund For Lupus Research." She said, "I continue to be optimistic about the progress being made in lupus research and am proud to support the promising work at Keck School of Medicine. I am hopeful for the millions of us around the world that may benefit from this."
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