[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 47 (Wednesday, April 24, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3296-S3297]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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        WOMEN'S AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES RESEARCH AND PREVENTION ACT

 Mrs. BOXER. Madam President, yesterday I introduced the 
Women's Autoimmune Diseases Research and Prevention Act. This 
legislation would expand, intensify and better coordinate activities 
between the Office on Women's Health, the National Institutes of Health 
and other national research institutes with respect to autoimmune 
diseases in women.
  The term ``autoimmune disease'' refers to a varied group of more than 
80 serious, chronic illnesses that involve the human organ system; the 
nervous, gastrointestinal and endocrine systems; the skin and other 
connective tissues; the eyes; and blood and blood vessels. These are 
illnesses where the body's protective mechanisms go haywire, and where 
the body's immune system attacks the very organs it was designed to 
protect.
  Overall, some 50 million Americans are afflicted with some form of 
autoimmune disease. But for reasons we do not understand, the vast 
majority of those affected, approximately 75 percent, are women, and 
most are stricken during the working and childbearing years. Taken 
together, autoimmune diseases represent the fourth largest cause of 
disability among women in the United States.

[[Page S3297]]

  These diseases, which include lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, 
scleroderma, multiple sclerosis, Guillain-Barre syndrome, fybromyalgia, 
Hashimoto's thyroiditis, Graves' disease, Epstein-Barr virus and 
chronic active hepatitis, are heartbreaking and debilitating. In 
virtually all of these diseases the female-to-male ratios are 
dramatically skewed toward women, in some cases by ratios as high as 50 
to 1.
  Autoimmune diseases remain among the most poorly understood and 
poorly recognized of any category of illnesses, and although science 
suggests they may have a genetic component, they can cluster in 
families as different illnesses. For example, a mother may have lupus; 
her daughter, diabetes; and her grandmother, rheumatoid arthritis.
  To help women live longer, healthier lives, more research is needed 
to shed light on genetic as well as hormonal and environmental risk 
factors that contribute to the causes of autoimmune diseases, as well 
as providing early diagnosis and treatment.
  The legislation I have introduced addresses all of these issues. It 
directs the Office on Women's Health to conduct or support research to 
expand the understanding of the causes of, and develop methods for 
preventing, autoimmune diseases in women, including African American 
women and other women who are members of racial or ethnic minority 
groups. It calls for more epidemiological studies to address the 
frequency and natural history of these diseases and the differences 
among women and men.
  The bill also promotes the development of safe, efficient and cost-
effective diagnostic approaches to evaluating women with suspected 
autoimmune diseases, as well as clinical research on new treatments and 
rehabilitation for women. Finally, it provides for expanded information 
and education programs for patients and health care providers on 
genetic, hormonal, and environmental risk factors associated with 
autoimmune diseases in women, as well as the prevention and control of 
such risk factors.
  Autoimmune diseases run the gamut from mild to disabling to life 
threatening. Nearly all affect women at far greater rates than men. The 
question before the scientific community is ``why?'' We have come a 
long way in the diagnosis and treatment of autoimmune disease. But more 
work is desperately needed, more information must be made available, 
and more resources must be devoted to this effort.
  The Women's Autoimmune Diseases Research and Prevention Act can 
contribute to the growing body of knowledge about these awful 
illnesses. But it is not enough to simply understand these diseases 
well. We must ensure that the millions of American women stricken with 
autoimmune disease also live long, and well.

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