February 1st marked the beginning of Turner Syndrome Awareness Month, which is an entire month dedicated to learning about this rare disease and raising awareness. The Turner Syndrome Foundation (TSF) has organized some amazing activities throughout the course of the month so that everyone has a chance to get involved and help the Turner syndrome community!
About Turner Syndrome
Before we can begin to raise awareness for this condition, we have to understand what it is. Turner syndrome is a rare, chromosomal disorder that is characterized by a partially or entirely missing X chromosome. Females are the only sex affected by this disease, and it causes symptoms like kidney abnormalities, edema, cardiac abnormalities, slowed growth, physical abnormalities (such as a wide or weblike neck), no sexual changes during puberty, stalled sexual development, menstrual cycles that end early, and an inability to get pregnant without fertility treatment. Because these symptoms may vary widely among affected individuals, treatment is symptomatic. The staples of Turner syndrome treatment are hormone and estrogen therapy.
Turner Syndrome Awareness Month
The Turner Syndrome Foundation has compiled some fantastic ways to get involved in raising awareness throughout February! Before we dive into any of those, make sure to subscribe to email and text alerts to stay up-to-date on all things Turner Syndrome Awareness Month. There’s a challenge for every day of February, so the alerts are really helpful reminders.
Now, let’s get into these daily events. Each of February’s 28 days comes with a task that challenges you to get involved and raise awareness about this rare disease. For example, the Day 11 challenge is to repost the foundation’s Take a Step for TS photo to your social media pages, while the thirteenth day urges you to send the TSF petition to one of your local lawmakers. Check on social media (Facebook and Instagram) for a new challenge every day!
These challenges can be done from the comfort of your own home, so there’s no excuse not to take part! Spend this month supporting the Turner syndrome community.
