Looking for Contributors

As you know, Planet Narcolepsy is always looking for contributions to the website. If you know anyone who might be interested in blogging for us, being a Twitterbug, or expanding our social media network on behalf of Narcolepsy Awareness and Education, please have him or her email us at admin@planetnarcolepsy.com.

Maybe your friends and family don't want to be involved with Narcolepsy. Maybe they have other conditions they worry about.

That's okay too! Planet Narcolepsy is pleased to announce that we have registered a second domain - AwarenessMatters.org  Currently the page is under construction, and it will continue to be as long as it takes, but we'd like to roll it out soon, if we can get the manpower behind it.

Our slogan is "Awareness Matters." And it does, but not just for those of us with Narcolepsy. It's amazing how many other conditions, some closely linked to Narcolepsy, do not get the attention they deserve and leave people suffering, un- or mis- diagnosed for years, lonely and misunderstood, and often ridiculed for "invisible" diseases and disabilities.

Expanding on our theme of bringing together patients with supporters, medical professionals, and education, Awareness Matters will feature areas on medical conditions with similar stigmas to Narcolepsy. A few we've already considered are:

Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (Crohn's, Ulcerative Colitis, etc.)
Eosinophilic Conditions
Lupus
Fibromyalgia
Multiple Sclerosis

Many of these are autoimmune conditions, and the overall topic of autoimmune clusters is a goal to be addressed as well.

I need people to "man" these sections as moderators, bloggers, researchers, and marketers. I cannot do it alone! If you or someone you know is interested, please email admin@planetnarcolepsy.com for more information, and don't hesitate to share your ideas on content or other conditions to feature.

There are only a couple of "requirements" (I'm flexible) for any topic to be assigned its own section:
          *The condition must be considered "rare" (rarediseases.org has an extensive but not all-inclusive list. If the topic is part of NORD's list, it is automatically accepted)
          *There must not be any well-known, national groups or campaigns associated with the condition (NarNet is not well-known among non-narcoleptics, but the American Cancer Society is common knowledge to people who don't have cancer)
          *There must be some sort of hurdle in obtaining diagnosis (a highly specialized test, a similar and often misdiagnosed condition (like epilepsy for us)
          *There must be little or limited knowledge in the medical community at large
          *Average time to diagnosis should exceed 2 years
          *Funding for research must be minimal or nonexistent

I hope to hear from many of you and look forward to working together.