Author: Danielle Grant 

Lupus is a disease with notable pop culture recognition thanks to the American television series “House, M.D.” where it is often suggested as a probable illness plaguing the show’s patients until the suggestion is typically shut down because “it’s never lupus”. When a friend of mine was diagnosed with lupus she recalls phoning a loved one only to be met with a joke utilizing the same House tagline, “but it’s never lupus”. An ill-timed joke aside, this highlights a frustration for many lupus patients, not many Canadians are aware of what lupus actually is. October is lupus awareness month, offering the opportunity to start a dialogue about this autoimmune disease often called The Disease with a Thousand Faces.