Support group set up for rare illness

Lynne Jacques was diagnosed three years ago with microscopic polyangitis, one of the many forms of vasculitis.

Since making her recovery, she has been campaigning to raise awareness of the symptoms so that sufferers can be diagnosed as quickly as possible to reduce long-term damage.

Early diagnosis and effective treatment are critical to patients to regain their health and ensure better quality and longer life expectancy before too much damage is done to major organs by the illness, which has often frightening symptoms.

Vasculitis encompasses a range of potentially life-threatening diseases triggered by an overactive immune system and inflammation of the blood vessels, which can cause blockages and death of tissues, potentially leading to loss of sight, deafness, limbs or digits as well as other problems.

It has no known cause and no cure, but it can usually be controlled by drugs.

Mrs Jacques, 64, of Clayton, Bradford, has become a trustee of the national charity Vasculitis UK and has launched a West Yorkshire branch of the charity.

When her disease flared, she lost all sensation in her left arm and lost the use of her fingers and both feet before being rushed to Bradford Royal Infirmary – but her health problems had started a year before when she developed a flu-like virus.

Following the diagnosis she was barely able to walk for six months and was forced to give up work.

She added: “Controlling the disease is only the first stage, you then have to learn how to cope with the damage and there will always be the background worry that the disease will flare up again.”

To contact the support group email [email protected] or call 01274 412378.