Living with a chronic illness can be an isolating journey filled with uncertainty, particularly when you’re newly diagnosed. This sentiment forms the core of Asmaa’s story, the co-founder of Lori Health, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2022. Her journey from diagnosis to creating a platform that serves as a beacon of hope for others highlights the critical gaps in our healthcare system and online communities.
When Asmaa first experienced symptoms like tingling, numbness, and burning sensations in her legs, she embarked on what many chronic illness patients recognize—an exhausting journey through the medical system. From multiple visits to the emergency room to seeking second opinions across countries, her path to diagnosis took approximately four months. While this might seem lengthy, many patients with autoimmune conditions face years of uncertainty before receiving a proper diagnosis, demonstrating how privileged even this timeline was.
What struck Asmaa most profoundly wasn’t just the physical symptoms or medical uncertainty, but the emotional isolation that followed her diagnosis. Like many newly diagnosed patients, she turned to the internet, hoping to find stories from others who had walked this path before her—people who were thriving despite their condition. Instead, she encountered predominantly negative narratives filled with fear, anger, and hopelessness. “I wanted comfort. I wanted someone to say your life is not over, you still have a beautiful life ahead of you,” she explains, highlighting a crucial gap in the chronic illness online ecosystem.
This experience became the catalyst for Lori Health, a groundbreaking platform designed to collect and share verified habits, life hacks, and tools from real people living with chronic illnesses. The platform addresses a fundamental need that existing social media groups and medical websites often miss: positive, action-oriented content from peers who are managing their conditions successfully. As Asmaa points out, there are 500 million people living with autoimmune conditions worldwide—one in ten people in the UK alone—yet structured peer support remains difficult to access.
What makes Lori Health unique is its focus on the social layer of chronic illness. Beyond connecting patients with similar diagnoses, it considers lifestyle factors, personal circumstances, and specific needs. For example, if someone needs advice about starting a family while managing MS, they can connect with others who have successfully navigated that journey. This personalized approach recognizes that chronic illness is just one facet of a person’s identity—not their entire story.
The power of mindset emerges as a recurring theme in Asmaa’s narrative. Despite the physical and emotional challenges of her diagnosis, she found strength in her spiritual beliefs and practiced gratitude daily. This perspective shift allowed her to see her diagnosis not as an ending, but as a beginning—a catalyst for greater resilience, compassion, and purpose. “So many people would not change a thing,” she notes about those living with chronic conditions who have found meaning in their journey.
Perhaps most inspiring is how Asmaa transformed her personal health challenge into a mission to help others. After implementing lifestyle changes that led to a reduction in her MS lesions and symptoms, she became determined to make this knowledge accessible to everyone—regardless of their socioeconomic status or location. Not everyone can leave their job and move to a sunny country to focus on recovery as she did, but everyone deserves access to peer wisdom and support.
As medical research continues to evolve, particularly around connections between gut health and autoimmune conditions, platforms like Lori Health stand to bridge the critical gap between clinical studies and real-world patient experiences. By collecting data on what works for patients in their daily lives, they’re contributing to a broader understanding of chronic illness management beyond traditional medical interventions.
For anyone newly diagnosed with a chronic illness, Asmaa’s message resonates with compassion and hope: while the journey may feel dark and overwhelming at first, connecting with others who have walked this path can illuminate possibilities for a fulfilling life beyond diagnosis. Sometimes, the most powerful medicine is simply knowing that others have faced similar challenges and not just survived, but thrived.
Turning Diagnosis Into Mission: The Birth of Lori Health
