This article, by Glynis Horning in the June 2019 edition of Fairlady magazine, features an interview with Dr Grant Fourie.
MANY OF US know little of autoimmune disease beyond the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge that went viral four years ago, enticing our kids to soak themselves on social media for fun, and ostensibly a cause. At most, we’ve read occasionally of celebs with exotic-sounding ailments: Venus Williams, we’re told, has Sjögren’s syndrome. Serena Gomez and Toni Braxton, lupus. Gigi Hadid and Zoe Saldana, Hashimoto’s disease. Missy Elliott, Grave’s disease. And Kim Kardashian, the less obscure psoriasis, which we link vaguely with scaly skin – impossible to associate with that sleek booty!
The painful reality of autoimmune disease was really only brought home to us when local rugby legend Joost van der Westhuizen shrank before our eyes from ALS (aka motor neuron disease or Lou Gehrig’s disease), and died in 2017. Still today, little is publicised about autoimmune disease compared to the likes of cardiovascular disease or cancer, and accurate local statistics seem impossible to come by.
The full article here.
