State Senator Joseph A. Griffo has urged Governor David Paterson to approve a bill he co-sponsored that would expand outreach and education aimed at addressing lupus, a debilitating disease that strikes thousands of New Yorkers every year.

Griffo says lupus is a serious, complex autoimmune disease that can cause inflammation and tissue damage to nearly any organ system in the body, including the skin, joints, other connective tissue, blood and blood vessels, heart, lungs, kidney, and brain. Current estimates are that approximately 1.5 million to 2 million Americans live with some form of lupus. It affects women nine times more often than men; 80 percent of newly diagnosed cases of lupus develop among women of childbearing age.

“This bill would help fight lupus and increase awareness,” Griffo said. “Now that this bill has received its final legislative approval, I urge the Governor to sign it into law.”