ELLE UK is looking to interview a woman with lupus (aged 18-35) to share her experience of losing her eyebrows for an online article. ELLE UK would ideally like to share the interviewee’s name, age and picture/s.
If you would like to be considered for the article, please email me at Chanpreet@lupusuk.org.uk with your name, contact details and a brief story of your experience.
Thank you.
Hello Chanpreet,
I am writing this to you, in hope you can pass it along to the Elle journalist.
Dear Elle,
It is good to see that you are turning some attention to Lupus and to some of its effects. Losing one’s eyebrows can be depressing and I’m sure there will be some wider interest in what beauty options are available.
But there is so much more to focus attention on when it comes to Lupus. How about the fact that it often takes 5+ years to get a diagnosis. (Perhaps it’s because women are disproportionately affected by Lupus and some doctors are inured to female complaints of exhaustion/depression, etc.?)
How about that the first-line medication is one which has been use since the 1950s – and doctors still aren’t sure why/how it works.
Research is what will make the difference to those of us living with Lupus. Offering treatments that have been proven effective everywhere in the country will make a difference. (My rheumatologist told me this week about an innovative programme that effectively fights fatigue – one of the worst Lupus symptoms. But it’s only available in Bath.)
Yes, dealing with hair loss is upsetting. But it is far more daunting to face the prospect of having to give up work because of exhaustion and pain. It is more frightening to learn that as Lupus progresses it attacks major organs. It is much more difficult to watch the life you have built – friends, fun, family times – slowly slip away.
I will be grateful to read your tips on eyebrows. (Perhaps you could include hair loss too?) But Elle magazine has the opportunity to take on a disease which disproportionately affects women; which does not get the research funding it needs; and the seriousness of which too few people in and out of the medical community are aware.
Please take it up.
Hi MaCoBu,
Thank you for raising some valuable points and expressing your thoughts on this upcoming article. I will report your feedback.
All the best!
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