028 The Importance Of Early Diagnosis - PH And Rare Disease

When it comes to rare disease and chronic illness, early diagnosis is important for many reasons - but even more so when a person has a condition known as pulmonary hypertension (PH). Why? If left untreated, death is almost certain - and the average length of survival without treatment is three years. **Doctors are commonly taught to look for horses, not zebras. But what if it really IS a zebra?** The good news is that there are more and more options for treatment of this rare condition, but like all rare diseases, getting to the proper diagnosis is key. Even if you don't have PH, however, this episode is important. My guest, Jessica Armstrong (see bio below), and I discuss many topics that are applicable to almost anyone dealing with an illness and the medical profession - how and why you need to take control of your own care! In This Episode, You Will Learn: The many reasons why rare diseases are misdiagnosed Ways to combat misdiagnosis and lack of proper treatment - how to take control What tools are available to assist you - and get a great tool for FREE Jessica's personal story and how it reflects that of many others The importance of community and reaching out Why living with "invisible illness" is particularly frustrating! What is Pulmonary Hypertension? Pulmonary hypertension is high blood pressure in the lungs, which impacts patients of a number of other chronic illnesses, including: 32-85% of patients with Pulmonary Fibrosis up to 40% of patients with left heart disease 15-20% of patients with HHT 8-12% of Scleroderma patients 3-5% of patients who have previously suffered a pulmonary embolism 0.5-9% of Lupus patients ...it is also applicable to many people that have my rare disease, lymphangioleiomyomatosis . About Early Diagnosis Campaign Manager Jessica Armstrong Jessica Armstrong is the Early Diagnosis Campaign Manager for the Pulmonary Hypertension Association In 2011, Jessica Armstrong was serving in Afghanistan when she suddenly became unable to breathe and collapsed. Four months later she was diagnosed with Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension and told that, unless she underwent a dramatic 10-hour open-heart surgical procedure, she wouldn’t live beyond the next five months. After she received that life-saving surgery, a cousin of Jessica's died of undiagnosed and untreated PH. This traumatic event caused Jessica to re-evaluate and dedicate her life to helping others with this deadly condition, to survive and thrive as she has. Today Jessica serves as manager of the Pulmonary Hypertension Association’s Early Diagnosis Campaign and advocates for patients with pulmonary hypertension and other rare diseases. Read more about Jessica's Story here . Connect with the Pulmonary Hypertension Association: Click Here Instagram: Click Here for PH Association, Here for Jessica Connect with Jessica on LinkedIn: Click Here

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028 The Importance Of Early Diagnosis - PH And Rare Disease is an episode from Smart Planning 101 by Attorney, Entrepreneur, and Founder of Smart Planning 101, Nicole Wipp.

This episode is 41:55 long.

This episode was published on Nov 29, 2015.

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