Celebrity Gives to Scientology, But Not Kawasaki Disease

By IBTimes Staff Reporter | July 15 2011 3:59 PM

In the same week social media network, Facebook, helps to diagnose a young boy with a rare autoimmune disease, actor John Travolta, 57, and his wife Kelly Preston, who insisted their son, Jett Travolta, had Kawasaki disease, a rare condition which causes inflammation of blood vessels, chose not to donate to charities supporting the illness.

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Actor John Travolta gave roughly $56,000 in revenue from, The Jett Travolta Foundation, a foundation set up in name of his late son, who died of a seizure, but nothing for autism research or Kawasaki Disease, according to the organization’s Form 990 filings.

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The Jett Travolta Foundation was created shortly after Travolta's 16-year-old son Jett died from hitting his head during a seizure while in the Bahamas in 2009, and the non-profit organization has given away approximately $56,000 since it was set up, according to website Showbiz411.

In 2010, thousands of the foundation's revenue went to a Scientology detox charity in Ocala, Florida, in the form of a 10 percent donation made by the actor through 14 separate donations amounting in $27,850. A donation of $2,500 was given to the detox charity and the Marion County Sheriff's Foundation, while others to benefit included the Starlight Children's Foundation and the No Limits Limbs Loss Foundation, which both received $5,000 each, according to Daily Mail.

Other groups failing to benefit from the donation included any charities supporting autism, despite it being confirmed by Travolta his son suffered with the disease - which is not officially recognized by Scientology.

Possible symptoms of Kawasaki Disease include:

Extremely bloodshot or red eyes
Bright red, chapped, or cracked lips
Red mucous membranes in the mouth
Strawberry tongue, white coating on the tongue, or prominent red bumps on the back of the tongue
Red palms of the hands and the soles of the feet
Swollen hands and feet
Skin rashes on the middle of the body
Peeling skin in the genital area, hands, and feet (around the nails, palms, and soles)
Swollen lymph nodes, particularly in the neck area
Joint pain and swelling, frequently on both sides of the body

Other symptoms include, diarrhea, vomiting, cough, runny nose, and irritability are also common.

In 2010, the American Medical Association adopted social media policy guidelines, which encourage doctors to do things like take advantage of privacy settings and maintain the appropriate boundaries of the patient-physician relationship on the web.

While the disease can mimic many common illnesses, like the flu or strep throat, according to the National Institutes of Health, classic signs include a fever of 102 °F or greater, lasting for as long as five days or two weeks. However, there are other symptoms that can also give away the identity of the condition.