Kawasaki Disease is a serious heart condition affecting young children.
Kawasaki Disease is an important issue facing children today. It is especially important to me because my beautiful niece is a kawasaki survivor and i feel urged to dedicate this special post towards raising awareness about this condition.
First let me briefly explain what Kawasaki disease is.
Kawasaki disease is one that most often affects young children of Japanese and in some cases Latin/Hispanic descent. Symptoms of this disease usually start with high fever which can reach 104F or higher, bloodshot eyes, body rashes, cracked dry lips, red strawberry-like tongue, peeling skin, swollen lymph nodes, irritability, joint and abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting and a rapid heart beat. It affects many organs including, the skin, mucous membranes, lymph nodes, blood vessel walls, and the heart.
If untreated Kawasaki can cause serious damage to the heart or in worse cases it can be fatal.
This weekend my sister, niece, and I attended the Kawasaki Disease Parent Symposium held in San Diego. We had the privilege of meeting Dr. Tomisaku Kawasaki , who first discovered this disease in 1967. He was a very kind man and even though his English wasn’t great  (he brought his translator with him) he still got his point across and managed to throw in some jokes here and there! Mr. And Mrs. Dr. Kawasaki flew all the way from Japan to attend the symposium and gala afterward. It was held at the University of san Diego and attracted quite a few individuals looking to gain further knowledge. The point of this symposium was to teach about the disease as well as raise awareness on research that is being done. Since there haven’t been many cases it’s hard to fully understand it without research.
Overall this experience was great it gave me a better understanding of Kawasaki disease and I’m glad to know a team of specialists in San Diego is working hard to gain more knowledge in this issue.
Please show your support for Kawasaki Awareness!
Visit this blog to learn more about Kawasaki disease.
Raising awareness is the first step to battle this heartbreaking disease.
