October is Dysautonomia Awareness Month! What are you doing to raise awareness?

This October marks another great annual Dysautonomia Awareness Month. It is always so awesome to see the patient community rally together and do amazing things to help raise funds to support research and help raise awareness in their communities. It's inspiring to see young kids participating alongside their parents, making noise for turquoise! Thankfully, turquoise is one of my favorite colors! I love to wear it and also have plenty of bright turquoise throughout my house. I even painted a pumpkin turquoise for Halloween this year. If you can, get out there and raise some awareness in your community. Tell someone about dysautonomia. Help educate a new medical practitioner who may not know what it is. Find a fundraising idea and donate the funds to research. Or purchase something on Amazon.com through this page and part of every sale automatically gets donated back to dysautonomia research (it doesn't cost you a penny extra, Amazon donates their share of the sale!)

There is lots happening online as well. Check out Facebook.com/DysautonomiaInternational for a daily dysautonomia factoid. I have learned SO many things I didn't know. There's also a live Tweet-A-Thon happening on October 23rd.

Shop at Amazon to Support Dysautonomia Research!

Whether you're a big holiday shopper or simply make purchases from Amazon once in a blue moon, please shop through this link to support dysautonomia research. Simply use the Amazon search box on the right of the page to find the item you're looking for before making your purchase.

You can purchase ANYTHING from Amazon and 4-6% of your total purchase will automatically be donated to dysautonomia research without costing you a dime extra. There are no gimmicks here. All you have to do is remember to click through the box on the Dysautonomia International webpage before putting items in your cart.

I am on the Patient Advisory Board at Dysautonomia International, an organization I am proud to be a part of. Dysautonomia International has made funding research their primary objective in hopes of ultimately supporting the discovery of a cure or new and improved treatment options for patients. More research leads to more awareness in the medical community and at large. More research and better physician awareness will also help render dysautonomia more of a household name like lupus or multiple sclerosis instead of an illness that sounds obscure and and foreign to people. Education is key and it often starts with educating doctors and providers in the medical profession so that they can begin to recognize and diagnose dysautonomia, thus leading to more prompt patient treatment and better, more thorough and comprehensive care overall.

October was Dysautonomia Awareness Month! How Did You Celebrate?

It's the last day of Dysautonomia Awareness Month! How did you commemorate the occasion? Many people spread awareness online, through successful social media campaigns like "Thumbs Up for Dysautonomia Awareness" where people proudly sported blue nail polish on their thumbs to show solidarity and support for dysautonomia patients. Many others also took the opportunity to raise awareness in their communities by hosting fundraisers, educating physicians, or friends and family. It's important to realize that raising dysautonomia awareness doesn't end in October. It's a 24/7 pursuit. Individuals around the world are working tirelessly to spread awareness 365 days a year. For more ideas and information on how to keep spreading awareness or to host a fundraiser to benefit new and ongoing research, please visit DysautonomiaInternational.org.

Dysautonomia International's First Annual Patient Conference & Lobby Day Recap!!!

Here is a highlight video of the 2013 Dysautonomia Patient Conference & Lobby Day held in Washington DC earlier this month! It was a tremendous success for dysautonomia patients and physicians alike!