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Medical Disclaimer: The information presented on this site is neither intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider prior to starting any new treatment or with questions regarding a medical condition.

What Is Vasculitis? - 
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)

Learn more about vasculitis, visit the Vasculitis Foundation - www.vasculitisfoundation.org, or continue on our Education page:

Vasculitis Overview | Behcet's Disease | Buerger’s Disease | Central Nervous System | Churg Strauss Syndrome | Cryoglobulinemia | Giant Cell Arteritis | Henoch-Schönlein Purpura | Hypersensitivity Vasculitis | Kawasaki Disease | Microscopic Polyangiitis | Polyarteritis Nodosa | Polymyalgia Rheumatica | Rheumatoid Vasculitis | Takayasu’s Arteritis | Wegener’s Granulomatosis

The site you are reading also has a reprint of a Vasculitis Foundation Fact Sheet created by the VF.

"Although many autoimmune diseases are rare, collectively they affect approximately 5 to 8 percent of the U.S. population. A disproportionate number of people with autoimmune disorders are women. For unknown reasons, the prevalence of autoimmune diseases is increasing." Source: The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)

Quotable Quotes

  • Giving
    "Unless someone like you 
    cares a whole awful lot, 
    nothing is going to get better.
    It's not."
    -- Dr Suess
    Posted Sep 16, 2010, 4:20 AM by Joseph Carpenter
  • Attitude (author unknown)
    [Some of you may recognize this from the other online support groups. I like it well enough to post the whole thing as a quote.]

    Attitude (author unknown)

    There once was a woman who woke up one morning, looked in the mirror, and noticed that she only had three hairs on her head. "Well," she said, "I think I'll briad my hair today." So she did and she had a wonderful day.

    The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that she only had two hairs on her head. "Hmmmmm," she said, "I think I'll part my hair down the middle today." So, she did and she had a grand day.

    The next day she woke up, looked into the mirror and noticed that she had only one hair on her head. "Well," she said, "today I'm going to wear my hair in a pony tail." So, she did, and she had a fun, fun day.

    The next day she woke up, looked into the mirror and noticed that  there wasn't a single hair on her head. "YAY!" she exclaimed. "I don't have to fix my hair today!"

    Attitude is everthing. Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle. Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly ..... Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass ..... it's about learning to dance in the rain.
    Posted Aug 25, 2010, 12:15 AM by Joseph Carpenter
Showing posts 1 - 2 of 14. View more »

Twitter Feed

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Google Groups
Central NM Vasculitis Foundation Group
Visit this group

Recent Announcements

  • Update This page was created several years ago, but the links found here are still very good for those people working to learn more about their condition, or the condition of ...
    Posted Jun 19, 2015, 1:10 PM by Joseph Carpenter
  • For Meetings info, go to the Meetings Page http://sites.google.com/site/nmvasculitis/Home/support/meetings
    Posted Jul 6, 2010, 12:15 PM by Joseph Carpenter
  • 2010 Eyewitness New 4 Health Fair 2010 Eyewitness New 4 Health Fair $600 to go...Would anyone like to donate the $600 booth fee so our chapter can attend this event as an Exhibitor? See below ...
    Posted Nov 30, 2009, 1:44 PM by Joseph Carpenter
Showing posts 1 - 3 of 20. View more »

Chapter News is also posted in the CNMVF Blog, and local members with Email can get news mailed to them by the CNMVF Google Group.

Twitter VFResearch

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Welcome to the website for the New Mexico Chapter of the Vasculitis Foundation. 

You can follow the ongoing activities of the chapter in the blog:

This website is an extended portal to more information about vasculitis. What it is, and what you can do about it. 

While no one can know everything there is to know, together we can gradually add more resources to help fulfill the three part mission of the Vasculitis Foundation: Support, Awareness, and Research. On this site, you can learn about the condition known as vasculitis, and you will also find links out to other resources as well.

The purpose of this website is to provide information and support to vasculitis patients and caregivers in New Mexico. However, anyone who finds this site useful is very welcome.

To see what pages have changed recently, look for the "Recent Site Activity" links on the bottom of the left sidebar.

Background

The Vasculitis Foundation (VF) is the only international organization for patients with multiple types of autoimmune related vasculitis. Founded in 1986, VF provides patients and family members with practical information and coping strategies to live successfully with vasculitis.

Mission: The Vasculitis Foundation supports and empowers patients through education, awareness and research.

The Vasculitis Foundation represents a family of rare diseases known as vasculitis. If you are a patient with vasculitis, or a caregiver or friend of someone with vasculitis, you should learn more about vasculitis by visit their website and join today. 

You will not regret it. There are multiple benefits to joining, one of the best is the monthly newsletter which will alert you to breaking news about vasculitis treatments and stories about other patients. If you reach out, then you will come to understand that you are not alone.

Fundraising Efforts go directly to promoting awareness and funding research projects. The Vasculitis Foundation is the number one single provider of funding for vasculitis research. Your contribution will go along way to help doctors develop better treatments and perhaps even a cure.

The Central NM Chapter was founded in June 2008. This chapter exists as a partner with the international Vasculitis Foundation, as well as with The Churg Strauss Syndrome Association (CSSA), and any other vasculitis advocacy group, to spread awareness about autoimmune related vasculitis, and to provide local support to the patients and caregivers in New Mexico. All members of the Vasculitis Foundation who also live in New Mexico, automatically become members of this chapter.

There are a number of other support organizations you will find mentioned in these pages for specific types of vasculitis, and other conditions that can be related to vasculitis.

This chapter is new, and this site will continue to grow. The blog will grow. The calendar will grow. The resources will grow. You may even grow!

We have monthly meetings. You can learn more about where and when on the Meetings page and in the Calendar.

The point is, we will post information about local VF events, and we will link you to more information about vasculitis. See the CNMVF Blog for the most recent updates.

If you do not live in central NM, but do live in New Mexico, you may also participate, but please be aware we may not be able to schedule meetings in your town. Perhaps you would like to host a meeting? Contact the Vasculitis Foundation for more information, or Email Joseph Carpenter.

So, the purpose and intent of this web site is to be the place to get information about the Central NM Chapter of the Vasculitis Foundation. Whatever else this chapter will do online, it will link off of this site.

For the latest news, and tons of other stuff, see our CNMVF Blog.

To learn about vasculitis, see our Education page. It is full of links to good information.

What follows next on this page is a very important effort that needs your help. We are working to identify the good doctors who know how to diagnose and treat vasculitis in New Mexico. 

Please share what you know in the interest of helping out new patients like you are, or once were. 

Vasculitis Doctors List

To help others like yourself, please go now to the Vasculitis Doctors Form. We are collecting the names and contact information for doctors in NM who are already familiar with vasculitis. Even if you are not in NM, please fill in the form. Here is why I think you should... 

I am advocating that all patients and caregivers help compile this list of Vasculitis Doctors as a sort of registry that can be maintained for the benefit of all vasculitis patients. Who knows these doctors best, if not the patients? Then when new patients need a doctor, they can have some idea that these doctors will know what they are talking about. What makes this list special is that unlike the phone book, the names on this list will come from existing patients.

It has already proven useful as, thanks to you, I have been able to refer a few patients to doctors we know can handle the diagnosis and treatment of vasculitis and its related symptoms. 

I will share this list with other chapters and with the national office, and then see that our portion is updated annually. 

Imagine having this kind of resource available when you travel. Ask yourself, "Where is the nearest qualified doctor to the place I am visiting?" Or, "What hospitals there can deal with my symptoms if an emergency arises?" These are real world situational problems you can help solve, and it starts with you filling in the Vasculitis Doctors form.  Please, go fill in the Vasculitis Doctors Form now.


Thanks!

Where can I find a physician?
To find a physician near you, visit:

  • American Medical Association's Doctor Finder at www.ama-assn.org
  • American Osteopathic Association's Find a D.O. guide at www.osteopathic.org
  • Talk with other patients who have your symptoms.
  • Share your good doctors with this chapter, and we will refer them to others.


Invitation to VF Chapter Leaders

People have asked about this website. How is it done, etc.

This site is 100% free, and 100% easy. I use Google Sites.

VF Chapter Leaders can get either a website like this, or a blog, like http://nmvasculitis.blogspot.com, and have the basics set up in minutes. 

I will help you get started, and I guarantee you can keep it up yourself. Just ask me how.













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