Paper butterflies floated down Pennsylvania Avenue Saturday as participants in the third annual Walk for Lupus Now held their signs high and moved to the tune of Unk's "Walk it Out."
Walkers paraded through the starting line's balloon arch and headed toward the Capitol. Some wore T-shirts saying "In the Lup" and "Butterfly Effect" or decorated with the foundation's butterfly symbol. Others carried signs honoring loved ones who had died of the autoimmune disease.
"Forever in memory of Anya," read one T-shirt with a photo of a young woman.
Many walkers also wore small signs that said "I'm walking for ..." on their backs. "My mom," "me" and "Aunt Sasha" filled in the blanks.
The walkers aimed to raise funds and awareness of lupus, a chronic autoimmune disease that affects 1.5 million Americans. The disease inhibits the body's ability to differentiate between foreign invaders such as germs and the body's own tissues, damaging and causing pain and inflammation in various parts of the body, according to information on the Lupus Foundation of America's Web site.
"Tell people as you're walking down this street what lupus is all about," Penny Fletcher, the president of D.C.'s Lupus Foundation of America chapter, said at the ribbon cutting ceremony. "We need answers for this disease and that's why you're here," she said.
No new medication specifically targeted to lupus has been released since 1958. Other drugs have been used to treat lupus, but since the disease is difficult to diagnose, it is also a difficult area to treat specifically, said Tom Watkins, the president of Human Genome Sciences, a pharmaceutical company based in Rockville, Md.
"It's an insidious disease and we need to figure out how to solve it," he said.
For the past 10 years, the company has been co-supporting the development of a new drug called Lymphostat-B. It is in the last stages of testing, he added, and must be proven safe.
"Lupus is one area that doesn't have a solution," Watkins said.
The disease can sometimes cause severe organ damage, he said. Patients often fluctuate up and down, and the disease can sometimes be lethal. There are about 300,000 moderate-to-severe cases of lupus in the United States, he said. The usual targets are women of childbearing age and often women of color.
"Wouldn't this be a wonderful cause for [first lady Michelle] Obama to take on?" WJLA reporter Greta Kreuz said during the opening ceremony. "Maybe we could get her out here next year."
More than 2,000 people participated in the walk, one of 62 similar events across the nation on Saturday. By the walk's start, participants had raised about $170,000 for education, outreach and research.
Sheena Lindsey, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, walked with members of the Lambda Delta Zeta chapter of AU's Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. The group participated in the Walk for Lupus Now last year and wanted to continue this year. Her cousin had also died from complications of the disease, she said.
"Actually, I think everybody knows someone with lupus," Lindsey said, gesturing to the Alpha Kappa Alpha group.
You can reach this staff writer at landerson@theeagleonline.com.
