SACRAMENTO, August 29, 2007 - Assemblymember Curren Price (D-Inglewood) has introduced Assembly Joint Resolution 34, which designates the month of October as National Lupus Awareness Month, in order to bring attention to a widespread disease with unexplained health disparities. This resolution raises awareness about the symptoms of lupus and encourages research into its causes and a potential cure.

"Lupus is a devastating disease that disproportionately affects women of color," said Assemblymember Price. "Due to the lack of attention it has historically received, treatment methods seem to have made little progression in almost half a century."

Lupus is a prototypical autoimmune disease that attacks the body’s cells, tissues and organs, most usually harming the heart, lungs, kidneys and brain. It is commonly known as a "women’s disease", because men rarely contract lupus. It occurs two to three times more frequently in African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, and Native Americans, and affects 1.5 to 2 million Americans nationally. Currently, there is no known cure for lupus, and, in the last forty years, the FDA has not approved any new treatments for lupus.

"Lupus not only impacts constituents in my district, but women throughout the state and around the country," said Assemblymember Price. "It is time we work harder to find a cure for this debilitating disease."

Assemblymember Curren Price serves the 51st Assembly District, which includes Inglewood, Hawthorne, Gardena, Playa Vista, Westchester, Lawndale, West Athens, Lennox, Alondra Park, West Compton, Del Aire, and Willowbrook, as well as portions of the unincorporated area of Ladera.