Celebrity doctor, Dr Hilary Jones, is campaigining for higher awareness of a rare disease in Newham with the launch of a new DVD.

Dr. Jones, who regularly appears on ITV’s Daybreak, wants better awareness of vasculitis with the launch of a Scottish guidance DVD for GPs and patients to aid earlier diagnosis on behalf of UK charity – The Lauren Currie Twilight Foundation.

Vasculitis - an autoimmune incurable disease which inflames and destroys blood vessels, affects 3,000 people in the UK every year. A group of 15 uncommon conditions, it can affect any of the body’s systems at any stage of life resulting in an almost infinite range of symptoms which proves very difficult to diagnose. Added to that is the fact that the severity of these symptoms differ patient to patient with no known cause and currently no preventative medication.

The Lauren Currie Twilight Foundation was formed in late 2010 and the idea for the DVD came after Lauren Currie, 15, died 48 hours after diagnosis. Her parents wanted to highlight to the medical professional and the UK that earlier diagnosis can prolong patients living a controlled long life with the illness.

The educational video is called Joining Up the Dots, and is supported and presented by Dr. Hilary Jones.

Dr Hilary Jones became involved with the filming of the DVD after realising that early diagnosis can prevent mortality. He said: “We need to be as aware of it as we are about meningitis. Meningitis is rare as well, in its bacterial forms, and yet we seem to have raised awareness about that and we need to do the same for vasculitis.

“I wanted to become involved with LCTF to really get vasculitis into the forefront of the UK to prevent avoidable deaths, like the case of Lauren Currie and sadly so many others.”