The Healing Project

Cognition Pharmaceuticals Reports its Lead Compound Statistically Significantly Improves Memory in Ills

2008-12-17T09:36:00.000-08:00

Cognition Pharmaceuticals LLC of New York has reported very compelling results of a Phase II trial that demonstrated statistically significant results in a population of patients with cognitive decline associated with Multiple Sclerosis. The results are interesting on many levels. The trial failed to meet its primary end-points that were supposed to measure a drug effect on executive function but its secondary end-points that measured the drug’s effect on memory were significant. It seems Cognition may have had a case of asking the wrong question, but getting a better answer than they either hope for or expected. Cognition, it is time to change the hypothesis.

I tend to cast a jaundiced eye to trials with mixed results; however, the provenance of this agent is extraordinary. Its developers include Mark Bear, the Picower Professor of Neuroscience at MIT (the blog covered his pioneering work in identifying a path to curing Fragile X), Nobel Laureate, Leon Cooper and Neurosurgeon, Mel Epstein. This team represents the smartest kids in the class. The original theory of the compound’s mechanism of action was it would improve memory consolidation. This trial clearly illustrates that type of activity. The trial also confirms results from the compound's results animal models. The former CEO of the Sention, the company that originally developed the compound, commented in a recent book Can't Remember What I Forgot: The Good News from the Front Lines of Memory Research by Sue Halpern, that it, “…shot for the moon and missed.” In fact, Sention was probably on the mark and the compound was simply abandoned before broadly targeted trials were executed (Ms. Halpern, it is time to update your book before its next printing).

Central Nervous System (CNS) drug development is the Vietnam of the pharmaceutical industry. In the last year we have seen compounds from Myriad Genetics, Lexicon, Targacept (multiple indications), Memory Pharmaceuticals (multiple compounds and multiple indications), Nurochem, and Elan, all failed to meet primary end-points and almost all these compounds showed no signal in ills. Thankfully the C105 trial seems to have been well designed and executed. In a rare circumstance, a drug company maintained a mindset driven by science instead of marketing. This trial clearly demonstrates C105 is an active compound. Furthermore, the compound mechanism of action would argue a wide use across a wide variety of indications including but not limited to chemobrain, mild-Cognitive Impairment, cognitive impairment associated with Parkinson’s disease, cognitive impairment associated with Multiple Sclerosis, traumatic brain injury, and Cognition believes childhood learning disabilities.

Given that C105 is a member of the widely used amphetamine family, the development risk for this compound should be limited. Given its safety profile is good, it could be broadly prescribed. Given the dearth of compounds available to treat cognitive conditions, neurologists and psychiatrists are largely confined to offering off-label scripts that have little if any effect on memory improvement such as modafinil (fatigue), anti-depressants and ADHD drugs (attention); this agent demands to be put into multiple trials across a range of illnesses as the patient community not only will desire it but they deserve it. This drug may address a range of underserved illnesses for patients with unmet needs. Time is of the essence.

I will follow-up on this trial once more information is available.

Happy Holidays from The Healing Project

2008-12-15T02:26:00.000-08:00

Everyone at the The Healing Project wishes that everyone in our community have the happiest and healthiest of Holidays.

Donations may be made online by following this link to make a donation.

If you don’t care to make an online donation, please feel free to send a donation by mail to:

The Healing Project Inc. (THP)
5 Laurel RdSouth Salem, NY 10590
http://www.thehealingproject.org/
EIN: 20-4345105
E-mail: - info@thehealingproject.org

THP is 501 (c) 3 not-for-profit organization; all donations are tax-deductible.

If your employer has a giving program, please be kind enough to apply for a matching donation.

Finally, if your company wishes to donate, please have its giving officer contact Melissa Marr, melissa@thehealingproject.org to discuss sponsorship.

Thank you so much for your generous support

May you also have a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year.

Change Is Coming to the Veterans Administration

2008-12-06T20:12:00.000-08:00

President-elect Obama has announced his new Secretary of Veterans Affairs and it is Gen. Eric Shinseki. He was severely wounded in Vietnam and spent 11 months in the hospital General Shinseki was the US Army Chief of Staff and was forced to retire by Donald Rumsfeld because he was not acting like part of the team. He dissented vigorously regarding the prosecution of the invasion of Iraq. His resolve cost him his job, and he has since been proven right.

His resolve will be tested again as the Bush Administration filled the VA with hacks, incompetents and apologists. James Nicholson followed the Bush party line right off a cliff. Then, General James Peake became Secretary. General Peake when in uniform, as the US Army Surgeon General, failed to acknowledge, prepare and deal with either Traumatic Brain Injury and mental health issues. As a civilian, he continued the policy as it might expose his incompetence. Hopefully, he will quickly retire from the practice of medicine, his tenure has been a disgrace.

General Shinseki should first resolve to clean-up the VAs administrative mess that fails to screen, admit and treat our wounded warriors. The VA would make Soviet apparatchiks blush with its indifference and ineffeciency. Second, he should immediately demote and fire the entire senior management of VA in mental health and traumatic brain injury. The signature injuries of OIF/OEF can be acknowledged and treated. The very capable staffs of many VA sites can be supplemented with civilian resources to get these service members squared away. The policy of denying benefits based on phony science and mindless research by both the DoD and VA can quickly come to an end. Finally, he must seek to chart an independent path; the DoD has an agenda quite seperate from treating and honoring our warriors.

Hopefully this action will signal to Military Health Systems that it is time to clean its house.

MILITARY PERSONNEL WITH TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY AT RISK FOR SERIOUS LONG-TERM

2008-12-06T17:57:00.000-08:00

The Institute of Medicine reported this week Military personnel who suffer severe or moderate traumatic brain injury (TBI) face an increased risk for developing several long-term health problems. This evidenced based study reported that conditions include Alzheimer's-like dementia, aggression, memory loss, depression, and symptoms similar to those of Parkinson's disease. Even mild TBI is associated with some of these adverse consequences, noted the committee that wrote the report.

In addition, the report notes that brain injuries sustained as a result of exposure to the force of an explosion without a direct strike to the head -- one of the most common perils for soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan -- may be underdiagnosed due to the lack of research on blast injury. It calls for the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to step up clinical and animal studies of blast-induced neurotrauma (BINT).

The Healing Project would go further and immediately screen and database the 300,000 to 400,000 service members exposed to blasts.

"Explosive devices and other weaponry have become more powerful and devastating throughout the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and we are seeing much higher rates of nonpenetrating traumatic brain injury and blast-induced injury among military personnel who have served in these countries than in earlier wars," said George W. Rutherford, professor of epidemiology and preventive medicine and vice chair, department of epidemiology and biostatistics, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, and chair of the committee that wrote the report. "It is important to identify and understand any long-term health effects of these injuries so that wounded service members do not lose valuable time for therapy and rehabilitation."

Studies conducted in Iraq by the Air Force Medical Service with the Headminder system would argue that up to 5% of exposures, that is 15,000 to 20,000 m-TBI injuries, would require additional follow-up. The DoD is only reporting 5,500 injuries total traumatic brain injuries. Furthermore, while animal studies are useful, replicating injuries in animals models are unlikely to provide necessary data to provide human clinical guidance. It is time to implement a web-centric longitudinal screening technology to track the evolution of these injuries in an epidemiologically sound fashion.

While we agree with the Institute in broad strokes, scientists and clinicians have been aware of the injuries and the likely outcome of these injuries since 2004. Neither the DoD or the VA has demonstrated any real interest in identifying or treating M-TBI dealing with its attendant co-morbidities. Both organizations have used research to delay the identification of and/or deny the very existence of the injuries. The report makes it clear blast concussion is not like a sports injury nor is it PTSD (two of the DoDs and VAs favorite excuses why they do nothing). Now that we have a change of government, it is time for Secretary of Defense Gates to clean out DoD HA and US Army Medcom. The delayers, the deniers and the dinosaurs need to be quickly cashiered and replaced by people who will get the job done now.

December 1st through the 7th is National Aplastic Anemia and MDS Awareness Week

2008-12-01T18:37:00.000-08:00

Aplastic anemia (a-PLAS-tik uh-NEE-me-uh) is a rare and serious blood disorder in which bone marrow stops making enough new blood cells. Bone marrow––the spongy material inside bones—makes new blood cells called stem cells. Stem cells normally develop into three main types of blood cells: red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. Each type of blood cell has its own functions in the body.

Aplastic anemia is a rare condition. In the United States, about 500–1,000 people develop this type of anemia each year. It is two to three times more common in Asian countries.

The two main types of aplastic anemia are acquired and hereditary. Acquired means a person develops the condition during his or her lifetime. Hereditary means a person is born with the condition. Acquired aplastic anemia is the most common type, and it is sometimes a temporary condition. It can be triggered by exposure to:

Toxic chemicals
Chemotherapy drugs
Radiation
Virus infections

However, the cause of acquired aplastic anemia is often not known.

Hereditary aplastic anemia is rare. It occurs with some inherited conditions, such as Fanconi anemia.

Aplastic Anemia & MDS International Foundation, Inc.
P.O. Box 310
Churchton, MD 20733-0310
(800) 747-2820
(410) 867-0242
(410) 867-0240 Fax
mail%20to:help@aamds.org
www.aamds.org
Materials available
Contact: John Huber

December 1st is World AIDS Day

2008-11-28T18:32:00.000-08:00

Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS

Quick Facts on AIDS in the United States

UNAIDS Secretariat:
20, Avenue Appia
CH-1211 Geneva 27
Switzerland
Telephone: +41.22.791.3666
Fax: +41.22.791.4187
mail%20to:unaids@unaids.org
http://www.unaids.org/en/default.asp
Materials available
Contact: None designated

Happy Thanksgiving From The Healing Project

2008-11-22T02:31:00.000-08:00

The Healing Project wishes that everyone in our US community has wonderful holiday.

Given this is a celebration on America's bounty, please take a moment to reflect on those that are less fortunate and make a donation to extend our reach to those that have unmet medical needs.

Again have a happy, healthy and enjoyable holiday.

November 20th is Great American Smokeout

2008-11-18T16:42:00.000-08:00

It is time to pack it in. The Healing Project knows it isn't easy to go cold turkey but newer drugs like Chantix have demonstrated amazing results in smokers with manageable side-effects. Check for Great American Smokeout programs in your local communites and give it a shot.

Great American Smokeout
American Cancer Society
250 Williams Street NW
Atlanta, GA 30303
(800) ACS-2345 (227-2345)
http://www.cancer.org/

Materials available
Contact: National Office

November is Pulmonary Hypertension Awareness Month

2008-11-14T16:53:00.000-08:00

What is PH?
Pulmonary hypertension is a rare blood vessel disorder of the lung in which the pressure in the pulmonary artery (the blood vessel that leads from the heart to the lungs) rises above normal levels and may become life threatening.

Pulmonary Hypertension Awareness Month
Pulmonary Hypertension Association
801 Roeder Road, Suite 400
Silver Spring, MD 20910
(800) 748-7274 Helpline
(301) 565-3004 x109
(301) 565-3994 Fax
pha@phassociation.org

http://www.phassociation.org/

Materials available
Contact: Katie Kroner

November is National Hospice Palliative Care Month

2008-11-08T17:17:00.000-08:00

The Healing Project strongly advocates the pateints and caregivers consider hospice care as the end-of-life approaches. These facilities offer a kind and compassionate place to come to terms with one's mortality.

1.3 million people with life-limiting illness received care from the nation’s 4,500 hospice providers last year. This represents continued growth in both patients served and number of providers. Approximately 35 percent of all deaths in the US were under the care of a hospice program.

Additionally, the top five diagnoses among hospice patients reported by NHPCO show the continued trend of less cancer patients among those served. The top five diagnoses seen in hospice for 2006 are as follows:

Cancer 44.1 percent
Heart Disease 12.2 percent
Debility 11.8 percent
Dementia 10.0 percent
Lung Disease 7.7 percent

Throughout the month of November, hospice and palliative care organizations across the nation are hosting activities to educate the public and other healthcare professionals about the benefits of hospice and palliative care.

Hospice is not a place but a philosophy of care created to help people live with dignity, comfort, and compassion at the end of life. Palliative care works to bring this philosophy of care to people earlier in the course of a serious illness.

Hospice and palliative care programs provide pain management, symptom control, psychosocial support, and spiritual care to patients and their families. They also serve as valuable community resources about care options.

Additional information about hospice, palliative care, advance care planning, and talking with loved ones about these important issues is available from NHPCO’s Caring Connections. For information, to find a local hospice, or to get a free state-specific advance directive form, visit
http://www.caringinfo.org/ or call the HelpLine at 800/658-8898.

National Hospice Palliative Care Month
National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization
1700 Diagonal Road, Suite 625
Alexandria, VA 22314
(703) 837-1500 or (703) 837-3139
(703) 837-1233 Fax
jradulovic@nhpco.org
http://www.nhpco.org/
Contact: Jon Radulovic

The New President and Healthcare - Part II - Medical Services

2008-11-08T05:00:00.000-08:00

Before wholesale changes are made to US healthcare system, Mr. Obama should fix the two health systems that federal government controls. The Military Health System and the Veterans Administration are two of the largest health systems in the United States and have serious problems.

The critical problems with these entities are led by incompetent, indifferent and anti-scientific management. Mr. Obama should immediately request the Bush Administration remove S. Ward Casscells, M.D. and Ellen Embrey. These two individuals are directly responsible for the lack of progress in the treatment of mental illness, mild-traumatic brain injury, traumatic brain injury, suicide and PTSD. They have led a campaign to continue the Bush Administration policy to underreport casualties in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. Further, these individuals have aided and abetted the US Army’s program to deny benefits to wounded and disabled service members. Finally, they will babble endlessly about what we don’t understand about these injuries so it will require years of research. In fact, much more is known about these injuries then they would like Congress to believe. However, these scientific facts fly in the face of their political objectives so they have let contracts to friends of the US Army who will confuse the issue for years.

What to do following the dismissal of Dr. Casscells and Ellen Embrey.

First, quickly review all contracts let by these individuals for contract irregularities and pursue criminal prosecution. Next, remove the US Army from all leadership positions in programs related to mental health and brain injury. The US Army personnel should be replaced by officers from the Air Force and the Navy. The Air Force and Navy are more technologically enabled and lack a political agenda as both branches have honored their disability payments. It is not to say the US Army lacks officers with technical expertise in the areas of mental health or traumatic brain injury but they were excluded from the process because they could not get with the program. Instead, the US Army replaced them with people qualified as occupational therapists and physicians’ assistants. It is time to get organized and led by the right talent. Mental health and traumatic brain injury issues can be solved and could have been largely avoided if it had not become political. Finally, embrace the civilian medical sector. Much of the most advanced research in mental health and traumatic brain injury is at specialized centers such as the Kessler Institute in New Jersey. Civilian entities were willing an able to take a leading role in solving these problems but were denied participation by the hacks running MHS and the VA.

With regard to the VA, Mr. Obama should immediately remove the entire senior management. Dr. Jim Peake is the former US Army Surgeon General. When in uniform, he was part of the program that left the nation unprepared to deal with mental health and traumatic brain injury issues. He not only failed for active service members but also rewarded with even greater responsibility so he could fail them once of service members became veterans. Since the VA is evolved into a system to treat geriatric patients, the surge in younger service members should be guided to civilian medical resources at government expense. The major exception is in PTSD where the VA and CDC did some of the most distinguished work both scientifically and clinically. The VA needs to get some younger more aggressive leadership in this area and capitalize on the VAs expertise. It should also embrace private psychologists to screen and treat the less serious cases locally and triage the most complex cases to VA centers of excellence.

Again, the medical failure at MHS and the VA is not as much a monetary problem as it is a management problem. Last year $2,1B was distributed by Congress to the VA and MHS to treat wounded with TBI and mental health issues. Nonetheless, the leadership is unable to account for much of the spending and the results have been almost nonexistent. With little doubt, the bulk of our service members could have been identified and started treatment. It does and will require funds but funds well spent. Let’s fix the problem and stop the talk.

The New President and Healthcare - Part I - Research

2008-11-06T05:00:00.000-08:00

Now that the United States has elected a new president, it is time for Mr. Obama that his talk of change is more than just talk. Mr. Obama has also implied that the US Federal Government can have a powerful and positive impact on healthcare.

The Federal Government is already a major force in healthcare ranging from basic research to direct provision of medical services to reimbursement of fee for service medical services. While enormous amounts of money are thrown into US healthcare, the results are have been less than stellar for the past 30 years. It is time to clean this mess up, and he should start will what the Federal government directly controls.

US Government research has been corrupted by politics for decades. The NIH, CDC and DoD value filling out forms more than the quality of the minds engaged in research. The peer review panels guide funding to politically connected individuals and entities or influenced by professional conflicts. The research is often conducted in the districts of well-connected congressman at third and fourth tier universities by third and fourth tier researchers. Much of the research is funded without results. Failure is fine and expected but what is unconscionable is that so many projects do not advance the field. Alzheimer’s disease, Traumatic Brain Injury and AIDs research are all examples heavily funded scientific political cesspools that have shown unremarkable progress in the past 20 years.

It is time to turn back the clock when NASA, NIH, DARPA, DoD, ONR and CDC when these organizations were led by people who were public intellectuals and visionaries. It was their mandate to identify the best talent and facilitate conquering an objective. Proficiency in filling out forms was low on the list of priorities. Speed and intellect were what counted. The average age of the team of scientists and engineers that put a man on the moon was 26. The average age of NIH grantee is approaching retirement age. Scientists and engineers make their great leaps forward in their 30’s and 40’s and generally extend the same line of work for the balance of the careers. Of course, there are exceptional minds that are super intellects (1% of 1%) and should be given unique permanent funding to indulge their interests. For the rest of the scientific, engineering and math communities, funding should be limited to 3 to 5 years renewable for 5 years. The funding should be based on clear objectives. Progress should be judged by peers in other fields as well as those in the art. Panels used by funding agencies tend to be filled with people who are third and fourth tier minds in the art who have nothing better to do than sit on a government panel. Identify people that don’t want to serve and who have something better to do and encourage them to identify and support the next generation of big brains.

People in the field, if infected with any degree of humility, can identify the most talented minds and people outside the field can generally identify those that are truly gifted from those that are merely hardworking. This will disturb many in Congress because the balance of funding will be concentrated on the coasts at the leading US research institutions like Columbia, Harvard, Yale, UCal, and Stanford and leave out East Podunk University. On the other hand, some of the most creative thinkers find their homes in the most unlikely places as their radical thoughts run contrary to orthodox views. It is incumbent on the federal government to find skilled administrators to find the talent and support it regardless of location or political influence. It is time to move the ball forward. It is also time to move it quickly and cost-effectively. More money without better methods will get us nowhere.

Part II – will deal with the US federal government’s provision of healthcare.

November is National Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month

2008-11-05T17:08:00.000-08:00

President Ronald Reagan designated November as National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month in 1983. At the time, fewer than 2 million Americans had Alzheimer’s; today, the number of people with the disease has soared to more than 5 million. By 2050, 11 to 16 million people will likely have Alzheimer’s.

Later diagnosed with Alzheimer’s himself, President Reagan died in 2003.

While there is much we don’t yet know about Alzheimer’s disease, tremendous progress has been made since 1983. National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness month to raise awareness of Alzheimer's disease and to shed light on the importance of finding breakthroughs in diagnosis, prevention, treatments and, eventually, a cure.

The Healing Project would also like to emphasize that Alzheimer's is only one of several types of dementia and there is a grwoing body of evidence that many patients present with multiple forms of dementia. The cure will not be easy and will require an open mind.

National Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month
Alzheimer's Association
225 North Michigan Avenue, 17th Floor
Chicago, IL 60601-7633
(800) 272-3900
(866) 699-1246
info@alz.org
http://www.alz.org/
Materials available
Contact: None designated

November is American Diabetes Month

2008-11-04T16:57:00.000-08:00

The Healing Project cannot understate the magnitude of the diabetes epidemic. This is the most serious health problem impacting the US, if not the world. It is time to get this under control.

All About Diabetes

Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin. Insulin is a hormone that is needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy needed for daily life. The cause of diabetes continues to be a mystery, although both genetics and environmental factors such as obesity and lack of exercise appear to play roles.

There are 20.8 million children and adults in the United States, or 7% of the population, who have diabetes. While an estimated 14.6 million have been diagnosed with diabetes, unfortunately, 6.2 million people (or nearly one-third) are unaware that they have the disease.

American Diabetes Month
American Diabetes Association
1701 North Beauregard Street
Alexandria, VA 22311
(800) DIABETES (342-2383)
(703) 549-1500
(703) 549-6995 Fax
askada@diabetes.org
http://www.diabetes.org/
Materials available
Contact: Local Affiliates

For Information About Vision Related Diabetes Problems:
Diabetic Eye Disease Month
Prevent Blindness America
211 West Wacker Drive, Suite 1700
Chicago, IL 60606
(800) 331-2020
(847) 843-8458 Fax
info@preventblindness.org
http://www.preventblindness.org/
Materials available
Contact: PBA Consumer and Patient Hotline

November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month

2008-11-01T18:30:00.000-07:00

Lung Cancer research is terribly underfunded even though billions of dollars of taxes are taken every year from smokers. It is time that these funds are directed, as they were intended, to pay for healthcare. The Healing Project advocates a small portion of these funds be allocated to Lung Cancer research and diagnosis. This new funding would represent a leap in an order of magintude and bring this scourge to an end.

Lung Cancer Facts
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States.
Lung cancer causes 30% of all cancer deaths.
Lung cancer is the leading cancer killer among Caucasians, African-Americans, Asians and Hispanic males.
In 2007, an estimated 213,380 people were diagnosed with lung cancer and 160,390 died from it.

Lung cancer will kill more people this year than:
• breast cancer
• prostate cancer
• colon cancer
• liver cancer
• kidney cancer
• melanoma...combined

The 5-year survival rate for…
• Breast cancer has reached 88%
• Prostate cancer – 99%
• Colon cancer – 63%
• Lung Cancer – 15%!

Lung cancer will kill three times as many men as prostate cancer this year.
Lung cancer will kill nearly twice as many women as breast cancer this year.
Over 50% of new lung cancer cases will be diagnosed at a very late stage—Stage IIIb or IV— and only 5% of them will live for 5 years.
Current smokers represent 35-40% of new lung cancer cases.
Former smokers represent 50% of new lung cancer cases.
People who never smoked represent 10-15% of new lung cancer cases.
The rate of lung cancer among women has risen 60% since 1990.
Lung cancer surpassed breast cancer as the #1 cancer killer of women in 1987.
31,000 more women will die of lung cancer than breast cancer this year.
3 out of 5 patients diagnosed with lung cancer will die within 12 months.
Only 15% of lung cancer patients will be diagnosed early enough to survive for five years or more, compared with 5-year survival rates of 88% for breast cancer, 100% for prostate cancer, and 64% for colon cancer.
Despite lung cancer being the #1 cancer killer, roughly $1,800 is spent per lung cancer death compared to around $23,000 per breast cancer death for research!

Sources:
The Thomas G. Labrecque Foundation
Joan's Legacy
Lung Cancer Alliance

Lung Cancer Awareness Month
Lung Cancer Alliance
1747 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 1150
Washington, DC 20006
(800) 298-2436 Lung Cancer Information Line
(202) 463-2080
info@lungcanceralliance.org
www.lungcanceralliance.org
Materials available
Contact: Kay Cofrancesco

November is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month

2008-10-31T17:56:00.000-07:00

Quick Facts About Pancreatic Cancer:

It is the 4th leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S.Pancreatic cancer is the 4th leading cause of cancer death in the United States.

It is the 3rd leading cause of cancer death among 40-59 year old men.

Approximately 37,170 people will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer this year in the United States.

Approximately 33,370 people will die of pancreatic cancer this year in the United States.

The number of Americans diagnosed each year of pancreatic cancer continues to rise.

For all stages of pancreatic cancer combined, the five year survival rate is only 5%; the lowest survival rate of all major cancers. The average life expectancy after diagnosis with metastatic disease is just 3-6 months.

52% of pancreatic cancer patients are diagnosed with metastatic. Men are 20% more likely to develop cancer of the pancreas than women.

African Americans are 40-50% more likely to develop cancer of the pancreas than Caucasians.

Less than2% of the National Cancer Institutes was spent of Pancreatic Cancer Research.

It is time to take action against a disease that has been ignored for too long.

Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month
Pancreatic Cancer Action Network
2141 Rosecrans Avenue, Suite 7000
El Segundo, CA 90245
(877) 272-6226
(310) 725-0025
(310) 725-0029 Fax
information@pancan.org
http://www.pancan.org/
Materials available
Contact: Sue Kim

October 31st is Interstitial Cystitis Awareness Day

2008-10-28T13:24:00.000-07:00

What is Interstitial Cystitis
IC is a painful and often debilitating chronic condition where the bladder lining becomes irritated and inflamed causing symptoms such as pain in the pelvis, bladder, back or thighs; an increased need to urinate frequently or urgently; and/or pain during/after sexual intercourse.

Research indicates that the number of people who have IC may actually be higher than the current estimate of two million Americans since many people are not appropriately diagnosed and continue to face the daily frustrations associated with IC.

Diagnosis
IC can be tricky to diagnose because symptoms are easily mistaken for other urologic and gynecologic disorders, such as endometriosis, recurrent urinary tract infections and overactive bladder. As a result, it can take years and numerous visits to multiple healthcare professionals to achieve a correct diagnosis. In the survey, more than half of the respondents (58 percent) said their IC diagnosis took a year or more. More than half (56 percent) also said they had seen three or more healthcare professionals before their diagnosis.

Some Education Films

Interstitial Cystitis Awareness Day
National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women's Health
505 C Street NE
Washington, DC 20002
(202) 543-9693
(202) 543-9858 Fax
info@npwh.org
www.npwh.org
Materials available
Contact: Susan Wysocki

October is National Spina Bifida Awareness Month

2008-10-17T13:33:00.000-07:00

What Is Spina Bifida?
Spina Bifida, or “split spine,” is a condition that occurs in the embryo within the first month of pregnancy; it results from an incomplete closure of the spinal column. Spina Bifida is the most frequently occurring permanently disabling birth defect. Every day in the US, an average of eight babies are affected by Spina Bifida or a similar birth defect of the brain and spine.

What Causes Spina Bifida?
The cause of Spina Bifida is not known with certainty. However, scientists believe that geneti Many things can affect a baby, including family genes and things women may come in contact with during pregnancy. Taking folic acid cannot guarantee having a healthy baby, but it can help.

Many things can affect a baby, including family genetics and things women may come in contact with during pregnancy. Taking folic acid cannot guarantee having a healthy baby, but it can help reduce the risk of neural tube defects like Spina Bifida.

What is folic acid?
Folic acid is a B-vitamin that helps build healthy cells. During periods of rapid growth, such as pregnancy and fetal development, the body's requirement for this vitamin increases. Research has shown that if all women who could possibly become pregnant were to take a multivitamin with folic acid, the risk of neural tube defects like Spina Bifida could be reduced by up to 70%. Since Spina Bifida occurs early in pregnancy, often before a woman knows she is pregnant, it is important to take folic acid every day. Taking folic acid before and during early pregnancy reduces the risk of Spina Bifida and other neural tube defects.

National Spina Bifida Awareness Month
Spina Bifida Association
4590 MacArthur Boulevard NW, Suite 250
Washington, DC 20007-4226
(800) 621-3141
(202) 944-3285
(202) 944-3295 Fax
sbaa@sbaa.org
www.spinabifidaassociation.org
Materials available
Contact: Amanda Darnley

October is National Celiac Disease Awareness Month

2008-10-16T13:30:00.000-07:00

Celiac Sprue Association/ United States of America, Inc. (CSA/USA, Inc) is a member based non-profit organization dedicated to helping individuals with celiac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis worldwide through education, research and support.

National Celiac Disease Awareness Month
Celiac Sprue Association
P.O. Box 31700
Omaha, NE 68131-0700
(877) 272-4272
(402) 643-4108 Fax
celiacs@csaceliacs.org
www.csaceliacs.org
Materials available
Contact: Mary Schluckebier

A Proven Technology Detects mild-Traumatic Brain Injury in Combat

2008-10-16T05:00:00.000-07:00

On October 12 at the International Conference on Behavioral Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center, Paterson, NJ, HeadMinder, Inc., presented results of the first Military IRB-approved prospective study to be conducted in-Theater.

The study compared the HeadMinder Cognitive Stability Index (CSI) computerized test battery and the Department of Defense (DoD) Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metric (ANAM) with the Repeatable Battery for Assessment of Neuropsychological Symptoms (RBANS), a paper-and-pencil neurocognitive test currently used by the DoD to screen soldiers.

The study was designed by Lt. Col. (sep.) Gerald Grant, MD (USAF), Maj. William Isler, PhD (USAF), Maj. Monty Baker, PhD (USAF), David Erlanger, PhD (Chief Scientific Officer and co-Founder of HeadMinder), Tanya Kaushik, PsyD, and Col. Robert Seegmiller (USAF). The objective was to determine the validity and reliability of both computerized screening measures as compared to the RBANS. The CSI was accurate in assessing the severity of cognitive compromise following concussive blast injuries. The CSI Total Score correlated very strongly with the RBANS Total Score (.789) and also showed strong concurrent validity with the RBANS in the domains of Attention (.706) and Memory (.680), domains critical in the assessment of blast-related concussion. ANAM was not useful for identifying memory problems, the domain most frequently impaired on the RBANS, and only a subset of ANAM measures seemed useful for screening attention problems.

The CSI is a 30-minute, Internet-based, computerized test that provides automated, objective measures of attention, memory, response speed, and processing speed for initial evaluation of cognitive functioning. The CSI produces standardized reports that enable triage and decision-making appropriate to a user's qualifications – from medic to neuropsychologist to neurologist and other treatment team members.

Dr. David Erlanger, Chief Scientific Officer of HeadMinder, commented, "The CSI has now been shown, under combat conditions, to be the only telemedicine tool capable of serving the needs of the armed services. Especially given the large backlog of unscreened service members exposed to blasts, the HeadMinder System offers a simple, accurate, and objective screening method that can play a key role in identifying and treating servicemen and servicewomen with undiagnosed brain injuries. The CSI is unique in its ability to track improvement over time as soldiers travel between the Military Health System and the Veterans Administration and civilian medical resources. We believe the HeadMinder platform provides the Department of Defense the opportunity to fully comply with the Wounded Warriors Act by screening and tracking exposed service members' long-term well-being. If implemented today, the entire backlog could be cleared in less than two years."

After 5 years of ducking the issue, the DoD can get off their collective bottoms and start screening the 400,000 troops that have been exposed to blasts in Iraq and Afghanistan. While the study in no way implied that every service member exposed suffered m-TBI, it did imply that approximately 20,000 service members have suffered the injury. It is time to identify them and treat them. There is no need for mindless dead-end research projects.

Since S. Ward Casscells, MD , Undersecretary of Defense - Healthcare, has actively and willfully avoided detecting and treating both m-TBI and mental health issues, it is time to contact your representatives to start getting answers (find your representative, find your senator). His desire to deny disability payments and under report causalities is repellent.

A special note if you are represented by any of the following members:

Senator Patty Murray (D-WA)
Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY)
Congressman Jack Murtha (D-PA)
Congressman Bill Pascrell (D-NJ)
Congressman Todd Platts (R-PA)

make an effort to contact them as they have taken leading positions to help service members with mild-Traumatic Brain Injury, PTSD and mental health issues.

The study was initially funded by the Henry M. Jackson Foundation. After funding was discontinued, the study was completed with funding provided by PanMedix, Inc., and HeadMinder, Inc.

PanMedix was founded in New York City in 1999. Initially focused on the development and deployment of assessment software, the company has evolved to encompass a full range of pharmaceutical and medical assessment services.

Founded in New York City in 1999, HeadMinder is a technology company that is dedicated to the development of Internet-based neurocognitive assessment tools. HeadMinder tests have been shown to be valid and reliable instruments for evaluating cognitive deficits in a range of injuries and illnesses, including concussion, mild-to-moderate TBI, Multiple Sclerosis, ADHD, Alzheimer's Disease, and chemotherapy-induced cognitive dysfunction in cancer patients.

October is National Down Syndrome Awareness Month

2008-10-15T12:50:00.000-07:00

Some Quick Facts:
One in every 733 babies born in the U.S. has Down syndrome. The life expectancy of people with Down syndrome has increased dramatically in recent decades - from 25 in 1983 to 56 today. In that same span of time, advancements in education, research and advocacy have had a tremendous impact on the opportunities that individuals with Down syndrome have to live healthy and fulfilling lives.

Today, many people with Down syndrome:
Attend neighborhood schools and learn in typical classes alongside their peers without disabilities.
Graduate from high school and go to college.
Comprise a vibrant part of the American workforce.
Actively participate in the social and recreational aspects of their communities.
Live independently, make their own choices, and advocate for their rights.

National Down Syndrome Awareness Month
National Down Syndrome Society
666 Broadway
New York, NY 10012
(800) 221-4602
(212) 460-9330
(212) 979-2873 Fax
info@ndss.org
http://www.ndss.org/
Materials available
Contact: Educational Services

The Healing Project is Pleased to Announce the Release of Voices of CareGiving

2008-10-15T04:13:00.000-07:00

Voices of Caregiving is available for purchase at Amazon.

October is Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Awareness Month

2008-10-13T12:46:00.000-07:00

First Candle is a national nonprofit health organization uniting parents, caregivers and researchers nationwide with government, business and community service groups to advance infant health and survival. With help from a national network of member and partner organizations, we are working to increase public participation and support in the fight against infant mortality.

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Awareness Month
First Candle/SIDS Alliance
1314 Bedford Avenue, Suite 210
Baltimore, MD 21208
(800) 221-7437
(410) 653-8226
(410)653-8709 Fax
info@firstcandle.org
www.firstcandle.org
Materials available
Contact: Laura Reno

October 17th is National Mammography Day

2008-10-12T14:50:00.000-07:00

The American Cancer Society Reminds You:
•Women 40 years and older should receive a yearly mammogram for as long as they are in good health.
•Women in their 20s and 30s should receive a clinical breast exam (CBE) as part of a periodic health exam about every three years; women 40 and older should receive a CBE every year.
•Women should know how their breasts normally feel and report any breast change promptly to their health care providers. Breast self-exam (BSE) is an option for women starting in their 20s.
•Women at high risk (greater than 20 percent lifetime risk) should get an MRI and a mammogram every year and women at moderately increased risk (15 to 20 percent lifetime risk) should talk with their doctors about the benefits and limitations of adding MRI screening to their yearly mammogram. Yearly MRI screening is not recommended for women whose lifetime risk of breast cancer is less than 15 percent.

Early Detection and Treatment will Save Your Life. Get Screen Today!

What is Breast Cancer?
Breast cancer is a malignant tumor that grows in one or both of the breasts. Breast cancer usually develops in the ducts or lobules, also known as the milk-producing areas of the breast.October 17th is National Mammography Day. Many sites will be offering free and low-cost mammographies.
If you have not had a mammography recently, please sign up.

Free and Low-Cost Mammographies (Some programs are for this month only or on October 17th):
The American College of Radiology - Search for these facilities in your area. The facilities that are participating will be listed with a pink ribbon designation.
Local Susan G. Komen Foundation Affiliate: Komen affiliates raise money to help local underserved women obtain breast health services. The affiliate will have a listing of organizations to which they have granted funding, so call to see what services might be available in your area. To locate your nearest affiliate, log onto the Komen Foundation Web site.
Planned Parenthood Clinics: Women can make an appointment for all types of low-cost or free health services, including breast health, with the clinic nearest them by calling 1-800-230-PLAN (800-230-7526).
YWCA Encore Plus Programs: Services are provided on a sliding scale. Screening mammography is available to women 35 years and older who are medically underserved. Call 1-800-95-EPLUS (1-800-953-7587).
CDC's National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Programs: Offer low-cost mammograms and clinical breast exams to women between the ages of 40-64. States are legally able to narrow the age range, so call your state to find out if you are eligible for this program. They may also have information about other facilities in their area for younger women. Call toll-free 1-888-842-6355 or log onto the above Web site for information specific to your area.

Resources:
• Mammograms: Questions and answers about screening
• National Cancer Institute: What you need to know about breast cancer
• Visit The Healing Project's Resource Page and Select Breast Cancer for an exhaustive list of Breast Cancer Resources.

National Mammography Day
American Cancer Society
250 Williams Street NW
Atlanta, GA 30303(800) ACS-2345 (227-2345)
http://www.cancer.org/
Materials available
Contact: National Office

October 12 through the 20th is Bone and Joint Decade National Action Week

2008-10-11T13:45:00.000-07:00

Take care of your bones and joints to have a fulfilling active life.

Bone and Joint Decade National Action Week
U.S. Bone and Joint Decade6300
North River Road
Rosemont, IL 60018
(847) 384-4010 (847) 823-0536 Fax
tobyking@usbjd.org
www.usbjd.org
Materials available
Contact: Toby King

October is National Dental Hygiene Month

2008-10-10T12:39:00.000-07:00

The Healing Project would like to remind the community that proper care of your teeth and gums is not cosmetic. More and more research indicates that dental well-being impacts your enitre body.

National Dental Hygiene Month
American Dental Hygienists' Association
444 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 3400
Chicago, IL 60611-3980
(800) 243-ADHA (2342)
(312) 440-8900
(312) 467-1806 Fax
media@adha.net
www.adha.org
Materials available
Contact: Communications Division

October 10th is World Mental Health Day

2008-10-08T13:50:00.000-07:00

World Mental Health Day 2008
MAKING MENTAL HEALTH A GLOBAL PRIORITY: SCALING UP SERVICES THROUGH CITIZEN ADVOCACY AND ACTION.

Its time to reflect and look toward the future. With the final goal of making mental health a global priority in every country – what needs to be changed or what action needs to be taken in order to fulfill that goal? The 2008 WMHDAY material will focus on where we came from and what needs to be done yet for the future. We will highlight different levels of advocacy and its role in creating change and the need for scaling up services so all people have access to information, personalized treatment, and resources to assist them in all aspects of their recovery.

World Mental Health Day
World Federation for Mental Health
6564 Loisdale Court, Suite 301
Springfield, VA 22150-1812
(703) 313-8680
(703) 313-8683 Fax
info@wfmh.org
http://www.wfmh.org/00WorldMentalHealthDay.htm
Materials available
Contact: Deborah Maguire

October 4 is Sarcoidosis Awareness Day

2008-10-03T12:57:00.000-07:00

No one knows yet what causes Sarcoidosis. Some physicians believe that Sarcoidosis may result from a respiratory infection caused by a virus. Others feel that exposure to toxins or allergens in the environment are to blame. Most scientists do agree that Sarcoidosis is a disorder of the immune system, with some people vulnerable to getting the disease while the majority of the population remains healthy and unaffected.

Sarcoidosis Awareness Day
National Sarcoidosis Society, Inc. and Affiliates
2525 South Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60616
(312) 567-6626
(312) 567-6144 Fax
sarcoidosisfriends2@hotmail.com
nationalsarcoidosisfriends.org.tripod.com
Materials available
Contact: Glenda Fulton

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

2008-09-29T14:05:00.000-07:00

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month occupies a special place on The Healing Project's (THP) calendar. Our organization was founded by Debra Lachance, a breast cancer survivor. Our Board of Directors includes scientist H. Michael Shepard, PhD who led the Herceptin discovery team at Genentech. Dr. Shepard continues to develop novel medications for treating a range of diseases including Breast Cancer as president and CSO of Receptor BioLogix. THP has also benefited greatly from the support of Scientific Advisory Board Member, Stephanie F. Bernik, MD, FACS. Dr. Bernik is Chief of Breast Surgery for the comprehensive breast program at St. Vincent's Comprehensive Cancer Center in New York City. She is noted for her efforts in creating treatment protocols for women under 40.

Fast Facts About Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in the United States.
178,480 women in the United States will be found to have invasive breast cancer in 2007.
40,460 women will die from the disease this year.
Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in women (after lung cancer).
2 million women are living in the United States who have been treated for breast cancer.
African American Women are much likely to die of Breast Cancer.
2,030 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed among men in the United States.

Early Detection and Treatment will Save Your Life.

What is Breast Cancer
Breast cancer is a malignant tumor that grows in one or both of the breasts. Breast cancer usually develops in the ducts or lobules, also known as the milk-producing areas of the breast.

October 17th is National Mammography Day. Many sites will be offering free and low-cost mammographies. If you have not had a mammography recently, please sign up.

Free and Low-Cost Mammographies (Some programs are for this month only or on October 17th):
The American College of Radiology - Search for these facilities in your area. The facilities that are participating will be listed with a pink ribbon designation.
Local Susan G. Komen Foundation Affiliate: Komen affiliates raise money to help local underserved women obtain breast health services. The affiliate will have a listing of organizations to which they have granted funding, so call to see what services might be available in your area. To locate your nearest affiliate, log onto the Komen Foundation Web site.
Planned Parenthood Clinics: Women can make an appointment for all types of low-cost or free health services, including breast health, with the clinic nearest them by calling 1-800-230-PLAN (800-230-7526).
YWCA Encore Plus Programs: Services are provided on a sliding scale. Screening mammography is available to women 35 years and older who are medically underserved. Call 1-800-95-EPLUS (1-800-953-7587).
CDC's National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Programs: Offer low-cost mammograms and clinical breast exams to women between the ages of 40-64. States are legally able to narrow the age range, so call your state to find out if you are eligible for this program. They may also have information about other facilities in their area for younger women. Call toll-free 1-888-842-6355 or log onto the above Web site for information specific to your area.

Resources:
• Mammograms: Questions and answers about screening
• National Cancer Institute: What you need to know about breast cancer
Visit The Healing Project's Resource Page and Select Breast Cancer for an exhaustive list of Breast Cancer Resources.

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month
National Breast Cancer Awareness Month Board of Sponsors
C1C-315
1800 Concord Pike
Wilmington, DE 19850-5437
nbcamquestions@yahoo.com
http://www.nbcam.org/
Contact: Cynthia Church

October is Healthy Lung Month

2008-09-29T12:21:00.000-07:00

Healthy Lung Month is sponsored by the American Lung Association and seeks to increase awareness of issues pertaining to the maintenance of healthy lungs.

Healthy Lung Month
American Lung Association
61 Broadway, 6th Floor
New York, NY 10006
(800) LUNG-USA (586-4872)
(212) 315-8700
info@lungusa.org
www.lungusa.org
Materials available
Contact: None designated

October is "Talk About Prescriptions" Month

2008-09-27T12:11:00.000-07:00

NCPIE is a coalition of over 125 diverse organizations whose mission is to stimulate and improve communication of information on appropriate medicine use to consumers and healthcare professionals. NCPIE is the nation's leading authority for informing the general public and health care professionals on safe medicine use through better communication. Better medicine communication can lead to better health outcomes and improved quality of life.

The Healing Project would like to urge its community to educate itself about the benefits of pharmaceuticals and their proper uses. Further, natural substances, nurtriceuticals and supplements are often contain powerful chemicals that can have adverse effects and negative interactions with ethical drugs. Take the the time to read labels, consult with your doctor and speak to your pharmacist. Finally, THP would like to remind you to take antibiotics sparingly. The overuse of antibiotics has caused the rise of powerful resistant strains of bacteria that threaten uncontrollable epidemics of lethal diseases.

"Talk About Prescriptions" Month
National Council on Patient Information and Education
4915 Saint Elmo Avenue, Suite 505
Bethesda, MD 20814-6082
(301) 656-8565
(301) 656-4464 Fax
ncpie@ncpie.info

September is National Cholesterol Education Month

2008-09-10T10:44:00.000-07:00

National Cholesterol Education Month
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Health Information Center
P.O. Box 30105
Bethesda, MD 20824-0105
(301) 592-8573
(240) 629-3255 TTY
(301) 592-8563 Fax
nhlbiinfo@nhlbi.nih.gov
hin.nhlbi.nih.gov/cholmonth
Materials available
Contact: Information Specialist

September is Healthy Aging® Month

2008-09-09T04:29:00.000-07:00

The Healthy Aging® Campaign — a national ongoing health promotion designed to broaden awareness of the positive aspects of aging and to provide information and inspiration for adults, age 50+, to improve their physical, mental, social, and financial fitness. Healthy Aging® represents the best there is about aging.

Healthy Aging® Month
Educational Television Network, Inc.
P.O. Box 442
Unionville, PA 19375
(610) 793-0979
info@healthyaging.net
www.healthyaging.net/agingevents.htm
Materials available
Contact: Information Specialist

September is National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month

2008-09-03T10:38:00.000-07:00

Recovery Month effort aims to promote the societal benefits of alcohol and drug use disorder treatment, laud the contributions of treatment providers and promote the message that recovery from alcohol and drug use disorders in all its forms is possible.

National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Center for Substance Abuse Treatment
Office of the Director, Consumer Affairs
1 Choke Cherry Road, 2nd Floor
Rockville, MD 20857
(800) 729-6686
(240) 276-2750
(240) 276-1630 Fax
info@samhsa.gov
www.recoverymonth.gov
Materials available
Contact: Consumer Affairs

September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month

2008-09-01T10:59:00.000-07:00

Some Quick Facts About Ovarian Cancer

Only 15% of women are familiar with the symptoms of ovarian cancer.
67% of women incorrectly believe that a yearly Pap test is effective in the diagnosis of ovarian cancer.
In 2007, an estimated 22,430 women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer and 15,280 women will die from the disease.
As of January 1, 2003 there were 171,840 living women who had a history of ovarian cancer. (Latest figures Available)
One in 69 women will develop ovarian cancer.
One in 95 women will die from ovarian cancer.
5-Year Survival relative rate survival rate for all women with ovarian cancer is 45.

The Healing Project believes there is a need to greatly increase Ovarian Cancer awareness, clinical education and pharmaceutical research. While it is a common cancer, the public and medical community needs to get speed so it can be detected early. Finally, the National Cancer Institute and research community must invest time and effort in developing better diagnostics and therapies to make this a cured or chronic condition.

Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month
National Ovarian Cancer Coalition
500 NE Spanish River Boulevard, Suite 8
Boca Raton, FL 33431
(888) OVARIAN (682-7426)
(561) 393-0005
nocc@ovarian.org
www.ovarian.org
Materials available
Contact: Jane E. Langridge

September is Fruit and Veggies - More Matters Month

2008-08-30T19:00:00.000-07:00

The Healing Project wishes to remind its community that eating a diverse range of fruits and vegetables is key to enjoying a healthy life. If possible, buy seasonal local produce and help your the farmers near you and help the environment.

Fruit and Vegetable Program Office
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Produce for Better Health Foundation
4770 Buford Highway NE, MS K-26
Atlanta, GA 30341
(770) 488-5413
(800) 243-7889 TTY
fsto@cdc.gov
www.fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov
Materials available
Contact: Laura Tanase

September is Prostate Cancer Month

2008-08-30T10:52:00.000-07:00

Quick Facts About Prostate Cancer:
Approximately 220,000 new cases are expected in 2007.
It is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in America among men.
An estimated 27,000 American men will lose their lives to prostate cancer in 2008.
It is most common cancer in American Males accounting for more than 33% of the cases.
1 in 6 American men is at lifetime risk of prostate cancer.
10 year survival rates of non-metastatic early-stage prostate cancer is almost 98%
If a close relative has prostate cancer, a man's risk of the disease more than doubles. With 2 relatives, his risk increases 5x. With 3 close relatives, his risk is about 97%. So if it runs in your family, get screened early and often.

Prostate Cancer Awareness Month
National Prostate Cancer Coalition
1154 15th Street NW
Washington, DC 20005
(888) 245-9455
(202) 463-9455
(202) 463-9456 Fax
http://www.blogger.com/mail
http://www.fightprostatecancer.org/
Materials available
Contact: Jamie Bearse

September is Craniofacial Acceptance Month

2008-08-29T18:53:00.000-07:00

What is a craniofacial disorder?
A craniofacial disorder refers to an abnormality of the face and/or the head. Craniofacial differences can result from abnormal growth patterns of the face or skull, which involves soft tissue and bones. A craniofacial condition may include disfigurement brought about by birth defect, disease or trauma.

Craniofacial Acceptance Month
Children's Craniofacial Association
1340 Coit Road, Suite 517
Dallas, TX 75240
(800) 535-3643
(214) 570-9099
(214) 570-8811 Fax
contactcca@ccakids.com
www.ccakids.org
Contact: None designated

America On the Move's Steptember Campaign

2008-08-28T18:48:00.000-07:00

America On the Move's Steptember Campaign was created to improve health and quality of life by promoting healthful eating and active living among individuals, families, communities and society.

America On the Move's Steptember Campaign
America On the Move Foundation
44 School Street, Suite 325
Boston, MA 02108
(800) 807-0077
(617) 367-6894
(617) 367-6899 Fax
sani@americaonthemove.org
http://www.americaonthemove.org
Materials available
Contact: Sani Liu

August is Psoriasis Awareness Month

2008-08-15T13:36:00.000-07:00

About psoriasis

Psoriasis [pronounced sore-EYE-ah-sis] is a noncontagious, lifelong skin disease. According to the National Institutes of Health, as many as 7.5 million Americans have psoriasis.

About 10 percent to 30 percent of people with psoriasis also develop psoriatic [sore-ee-AA-tic] arthritis, which causes pain, stiffness and swelling in and around the joints.

Psoriasis Awareness Month
National Psoriasis Foundation
6600 SW 92nd Avenue, Suite 300
Portland, OR 97223-7195
(800) 723-9166
(503) 244-7404
(503) 245-0626 Fax
getinfo@psoriasis.org
www.psoriasis.org
Materials available
Contact: Paula Fasano

Get Your Daughters Vaccinated for HPV Now

2008-08-03T13:29:00.000-07:00

The first national study of four common sexually transmitted diseases, human papillomavirus (HPV), chlamydia, genital herpes and trichomoniasis, among girls and young women (ages 14 to 19) has found that one in four are infected with at least one of the diseases, federal health officials reported in March. 18% had HPV and 15% had multiple diseases. The most common forms HPV can be vaccinated against and should be done so on mandatory basis.

The $1.5B abstinence program should be declared a failure. The behavior of subsets of teens subscribing to abstinence programs outlined in studies conducted by Mailmen School of Public Health at Columbia University made me blush. It followed the Clinton line of reasoning that certain acts are not sex (this has nothing to do with the medical definition). Teens have sex; parents wake up and smell the coffee. Talk to your children and encourage them to be responsibly. On the other hand, get your young ladies vaccinated offer access to condoms and have them screened and treatment.

A Few Notes about HPV

What is HPV?

HPV (human papillomavirus) is a virus that is common in the United States and around the world and can cause cancer and genital warts. HPV is spread through sexual contact. There are about 100 types of HPV. HPV is the major cause cervical cancer in women and is also associated with several other types of cancer in both men and women.

Some Fast Facts about Cervical Cancer:

Number of people affected by HPV: About 20 million in the United States. 80% of women by age 50 will test positive for HPV.

New cases each year: 6.2 million

Health effects: Usually causes no symptoms, but certain strains can lead to cervical cancer and/or genital warts.

Cervical cancer data in the United States: 9,700 new U.S. cases a year. 3,700 deaths.

Can HPV be treated?

There is no treatment for HPV. But there are treatments for the health problems that HPV can cause, such as genital warts, cervical cell changes, and cancers caused by HPV.

What can you do?

A vaccine, Gardasil (Approved by the FDA on June 8, 2006), which is effective against four HPV strains is available. Two of the HPV types, Type 16 and 18 cause about 70 percent of cervical cancers. Combined, all four types of HPV in the Merck Gardasil product account for about 90% of Genital warts. It is delivered in a course of the three shots.

Recommended recipients: Girls 11 and 12 years old, or before onset of sexual activity. The vaccine can be given to girls as young as 9. The vaccine is also advised for 13-to-26-year-olds.

Cost: $360 for a set of three shots over a six month period. Now being covered by vast majority of insurers.

Side effects: No serious ones reported; some pain at injection site.

How can I get the vaccine if I don’t have insurance?
The Vaccines for Children (VFC) program helps families of children who may not otherwise have access to vaccines by providing free vaccines to doctors who serve them. The VFC program provides free vaccines to children and adolescents younger than 19 years of age, who are either Medicaid-eligible, American Indian, or Alaska Native or uninsured. There are over 45,000 sites that provide VFC vaccines, including hospital, private, and public clinics. The VFC Program also allows children and adolescents to get VFC vaccines through Federally Qualified Health Centers or Rural Health Centers, if their private health insurance does not cover vaccinations. For more information about the VFC, visit the VFC web site. Some states also provide free or low-cost vaccines at public health department clinics to people without health insurance coverage for vaccines.

Source: National Cervical Cancer Coalition and the CDC.

For More Information:National Cervical Cancer Coalition (NCCC)
6520 Platt Avenue, #693

West Hills, CA 91307
(818) 909-3849
(818) 780-8199 Fax

mailto:rbiety@nccc-online.org
http://www.nccc-online.org/awareness.html
Materials available
Contact: Rachel Biety

August is National Immunization Awareness Month

2008-07-30T13:25:00.000-07:00

All children should be vaccinated against childhood diseases. If you are unable or someone you know is unable to afford vaccinations, free and reduced cost vaccinations are available throughout the United States. The Healing Project acknowledges that many people are concerned about the possible adverse-effects of immunization, particularly in children. While ingesting any substance has its risks, the benefits of vaccinations greatly out way the risks. Finally, we are also aware that members of the community are concerned that vaccinations may result in Autism. Careful scientific studies not only in the United States but also throughout the world have not demonstrated any causal relationship between vaccination and Autism. Please see a qualified health provider and see your children are vaccinated before they return to school.

For more information:

National Immunization Program
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
1600 Clifton Road NE, MS E-05
Atlanta, GA 30333
(800) 232-2522
(800) CDC-INFO (232-4636) English/Spanish
(888) 232-6348 TTY
(888) CDC-FAXX (232-3299) Free fax-back

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/
npiinfo@hmhb.gov

August 1st is National Minority Donor Awareness Day

2008-07-29T13:40:00.000-07:00

The Healing Project encourages all members of our community to particpate in organ and tissue donation programs. It is a gift of life.

August 1 is National Minority Organ Donor Awareness Day, and the National Minority Organ and Tissue Transplant Education Program (National MOTTEP®) was established to encourage the minority communities to actively particpate in these programs to save lives.

Why is it so important to have more minority organ donors?

• More than 83,000 persons are currently on the national transplant waiting list.

• 16 people die each day waiting for a life-saving organ transplant.

• More than 50% of people waiting for transplants are racial/ethnic minorities including: 23,558 African Americans; 13,059 Hispanics/Latinos; and 5,158 Asians/Pacific Islanders.

• Patients in need of a transplant are more likely to find a genetically compatible match within their own racial/ethnic group.

• Minority donors account for only about 25% of the available donor pool.

National MOTTEP® is the National Minority Organ and Tissue Transplant Education Program. It is the first program of its kind in the country designed to:

Educate minority communities on facts about organ and tissue transplantation
Empower minority communities to develop transplant education programs which allow them to become involved in addressing the shortage of donors
Increase minority participation in organ/tissue transplant endeavors including signing organ donor cards
Encourage and increase family discussions related to organ and tissue donation
Increase the number of minorities who donate organs and tissues

The mission of the National Minority Organ and Tissue Transplant Education Program, (MOTTEP®) is to decrease the number and rate of ethnic minority Americans needing organ and tissue transplants. MOTTEP® will achieve its mission by implementing a national information and education campaign that emphasizes both prevention and intervention strategies that result in:

healthier life styles and behavioral patterns
increased number of minority donors and transplant recipients
increased number of family discussions regarding organ and tissue transplants
increased number of minority donor pledges

Why is there a National MOTTEP®?
National MOTTEP® was originally established to increase the number of minority organ and tissue transplant donors. The mission of National MOTTEP® was later revised to incorporate a preventive focus by addressing the diseases and behaviors which lead to the need for transplantation such as diabetes, hypertension, alcohol and substance abuse, poor nutrition and lack of exercise.

National Minority Donor Awareness Day
National Minority Organ Tissue Transplant Education Program
Ambulatory Care Center
2041 Georgia Avenue NW, Suite 3100
Washington, DC 20060
(800) 393-2839
(202) 865-4888
(202) 865-4880 Fax
nbbrooks@nationalmottep.org
http://www.nationalmottep.org/
Materials available
Contact: Norman Brooks

July is UV Safety Month

2008-07-03T13:18:00.000-07:00

The American Academy of Ophthalmology and Eye M.D.s around the country encourage everyone to protect their eyes from UV-related damage.

The same UV-A and UV-B rays that can damage your skin can harm your eyes as well. When you protect yourself from the sun, don't just think sunscreen – think sunglasses and a wide brimmed hat.

Excessive, prolonged UV exposure may be linked to the development of eye conditions such as cataracts and age-related macular degeneration.

Extensive or intense exposure to UV rays can cause "sunburn" on the surface of your eye. Similar to a skin sunburn, eye surface burns usually disappear within a couple of days, but may lead to further complications later in life so protect your eyes.

To protect your eyes, wear a brimmed hat and the right kind of sunglasses when you are going to be exposed to UV light.

Wear sunglasses that block 99 to 100 percent of UV-A and UV-B rays.

If you spend time on the water or in the snow, consider purchasing goggles or sunglasses that wrap around your temples because they block the sun’s rays from entering on the sides, offering better protection.

Remember sunglasses don't have to be expensive to offer the right kind of UV protection. Even inexpensive glasses can protect your eyes if they offer 99 to 100 percent UV-A and UV-B protection.

Don't forget the kids. Protect their eyes with hats and sunglasses. In addition, try to keep children out of the sun between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. when the sun's ultraviolet rays are the strongest.

It's important to protect your eyes when UV light is most intense.
Generally, UV light is at the greatest level at midday (10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.), but you need to protect your eyes whenever you're outside for a prolonged period, even when it's gray and overcast.

Reflected sunlight off water, snow and pavement can be the most dangerous type of UV light because it is intensified.

Your eyes can be harmed by UV light sources other than the sun, such as welding lamps or tanning lights. So remember to wear eye protection when using these sources of invisible, high energy UV rays.

UV Safety Month
American Academy of Ophtalmology
P.O. Box 7424
San Francisco, CA 94120-7424
(415) 447-0213
(415) 561-8533 Fax
eyemd@aao.org
www.aao.org/eyemd
Materials available
Contact: Georgia Alward

July is Hemochromatosis Awareness Month

2008-07-01T12:55:00.000-07:00

Hemochromatosis (HHC) is an inherited condition of abnormal iron metabolism; it is not a blood disease. Individuals with hemochromatosis absorb too much iron from the diet. Iron cannot be excreted therefore the metal can reach toxic levels in tissues of major organs such as the liver, heart, pituitary, thyroid, pancreas, and synovium (joints). These overburdened organs cease to function properly and eventually become diseased. Therefore, undiagnosed and untreated HHC increases the risk for diseases and conditions such as diabetes mellitus, irregular heart beat or heart attack, arthritis (osteoarthritis, osteoporosis), cirrhosis of the liver or liver cancer, depression, impotence, infertility, hypothyroidism, hypogonadism, and some cancers. Mismanaged iron in the brain is seen in those patients with neurodegenerative diseases: Alzheimer's, early onset Parkinson's, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, and Huntington's disease.

People At Risk:
Scots-Irish
British
Dutch
German
French
Spanish
Italian
Northern Western European descent
Northern Western European males
Females who no longer menstruate.
Blood relatives of people diagnosed with Hemochromatosis
People who have a family history of a premature death by heart attack
People who have a family history of liver disease
People who have a family history of diabetes mellitus (type II)
Bronze colored skin
Arthritis especially in the first two knuckles of the hands (iron fist)

Signs and Symptoms:

Symptoms are non-specific. Chronic fatigue and joint pain are among the first and most common symptoms reported by patients with hemochromatosis.

Later symptoms and findings can include:
Abdominal Pain
Irregular Heart Rhythm
Loss of Period Loss of Interest In Sex
Hair Loss
Skin Color Changes

Hemochromatosis is Often Misdiagnosed:
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people with HHC are misdiagnosed 67% of the time and usually see an average of three doctors before obtaining a successful diagnosis. This remains a critical health concern, because hemochromatosis is common and early detection with treatment can save lives and improve quality of life. Also, if a person with hemochromatosis is diagnosed prior to serum ferritin greater than 1,000ng/mL, the chance of cirrhosis is less than 1%! Genetic testing also called molecular analysis or DNA analysis, is available through any health care provider or can be ordered online from companies such as DNA Direct. Before getting genetically tested it is important to be fully informed of the potential for discrimination such as employment or insurance denial or cancellation. Genetic testing used in the right way can be helpful and even prevent unnecessary suffering or death.
http://www.irondisorders.org/Disorders/Hemochromatosis.asp

Hemochromatosis Awareness Month
Iron Disorders Institute
2722 Wade Hampton Boulevard, Suite A
Greenville, SC 29615
(888) 565-4766
(864) 292-1175
info@irondisorders.org
http://www.irondisorders.org/
Materials available
Contact: Patient Information Services

June is National Aphasia Awareness Month

2008-06-07T10:51:00.000-07:00

Some quick facts about Aphasia

What is Aphasia?
Aphasia is an acquired communication disorder that impairs a person's ability to process language, but does not affect intelligence. Aphasia impairs the ability to speak and understand others, and most people with aphasia experience difficulty reading and writing.
What Causes Aphasia?The most common cause of aphasia is stroke (about 25-40% of stroke survivors acquire aphasia). It can also result from head injury, brain tumor or other neurological causes.

How Common is Aphasia?
Aphasia affects about one million Americans -or 1 in 250 people- and is more common than Parkinson's Disease, cerebral palsy or muscular dystrophy. More than 100,000 Americans acquire the disorder each year. However, most people have never heard of it.

Who Acquires Aphasia?
While aphasia is most common among older people, it can occur in people of all ages, races, nationalities and gender.

Can a Person Have Aphasia Without Having a Physical Disability?
Yes, but many people with aphasia also have weakness or paralysis of their right leg and right arm. When a person acquires aphasia it is usually due to damage on the left side of the brain, which controls movements on the right side of the body.

How many people have aphasia?
It has been estimated that about one million people in the United States have acquired aphasia. The majority are the result of stroke. About one third of severely head-injured persons have aphasia.

Source: National Aphasia Association

National Aphasia Awareness Month
National Aphasia Association
350 Seventh Avenue, Suite 902
New York, NY 10001
(800) 922-4622
(212) 267-2814
(212) 267-2812 Fax
naa@aphasia.org
http://www.aphasia.org/
Materials available
Contact: Ellayne Ganzfried

June 8th - 14th is Sun Safety Week

2008-06-06T12:38:00.000-07:00

The Sun-Safe Child Care Project
The Sun Safety Alliance has launched their latest Early Childhood Education project with Crème de la Crème® Early Learning Centers of Excellence. This SSA Childcare Project is aimed at educating children, early childcare staff, and parents on the importance of adopting sun safe behaviors. The educational program includes a staff training module, children's learning activities, and parent education materials. Teaching sun safety at an early age instills lifelong habits that can prevent skin cancer. The SSA, through our partnership with Crème de la Crème, is in the evaluation phase of this project to demonstrate the effectiveness of the sun safety educational materials for early care and education.

To download PDFs of the Children's Learning Activities and the "Safe Fun in the Sun" booklet, click on Resources.

To purchase the staff training and parent information sheets, please contact Dr. Charlotte Hendricks, Project Director, at chendricks@childhealthonline.org or visit http://www.sunsafetyalliance.org/www.childhealthonline.org

Sun-Safe Actions in Early Child Care and Education (ECCE) Settings
What can you do to keep children sun-safe? Follow these simple guidelines in ECCE settings and encourage parents to follow these at home:

Schedule children’s outdoor playtime to avoid sun exposure during the peak UV hours of 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM (4:00 during summer months) Remember, the UV rays are present, even on cloudy days.

Pay attention to the UV and Heat Indexes for your area. During high UV or heat days, be especially sun-safe or consider alternate indoor activity so children can stay cool while playing and exercising. You may also pay attention to pollen counts and air quality index (urban areas).

Provide plenty of shade on playgrounds. Plant trees or use large summer umbrellas, awnings, or sun tents around your play area. Play games with children in the shadow of your building.

Avoid direct sun exposure for infants.

Encourage parents to dress children in cool, lightweight clothing, Loose-fitting shirts with sleeves, and capris or long pants provide more sun protection than tank tops and shorts.

Make sure every child has a hat with a wide brim that shades the ears and neck. Let each child decorate a big floppy hat that he or she can wear each day.

Provide each child with sunglasses labeled “100% UV protection.” Polycarbonate or impact-resistant lenses are safest. Teach children to wear sunglasses when they are outdoors, and to store their sunglasses properly after playtime.

Children have tender skin and can easily become sunburned. It is recommended that you apply sunscreen labeled SPF 30 to all areas of exposed skin. Follow the directions on the sunscreen, and apply liberally and reapply every two hours. Remember, check your state and local guidelines about sunscreen use in childcare.

Encourage children to drink plenty of water.

Be a role model! These recommendations apply to both children and adults!

Remember, sun safety is important every day, even on cloudy days. And practice sun safety all year long; during the winter, the UV rays can be even more intense as they reflect off snow. Make sun safety a part of your daily activities.

We would greatly appreciate it if you can share this information through your local networks. For more information, please contact Dr. Charlotte Hendricks, Project Director, at chendricks@childhealthonline.org.

Sun Safety Week
Sun Safety Alliance
1760 Reston Parkway, Suite 415
Reston, VA 20190
(703) 481-1414
chendricks@sunsafetyalliance.org
http://www.sunsafetyalliance.org/
Materials available
Contact: Dr. Charlotte Hendricks

June is Men's Health Week 9th -15th

2008-06-05T12:50:00.000-07:00

Goal of Men's Health Month

The purpose of Men's Health Week is to heighten the awareness of preventable health problems and encourage early detection and treatment of disease among men and boys.

This week gives health care providers, public policy makers, the media, and individuals an opportunity to encourage men and boys to seek regular medical advice and early treatment for disease and injury. The response has been overwhelming with hundreds of awareness activities in the USA and around the globe. For a partial list of activities, click here.

Public Service Anouncement
http://www.menshealthnetwork.org/psa/PSA.mp3
If you not sure you really wish to visit your healthcare provider, read some Healthcare Facts.
http://www.menshealthnetwork.org/library/menshealthfacts.pdf

National Men's Health Week
Men’s Health Network
236 Massachusetts Avenue NE, Suite 301
P.O. Box 75972
Washington, DC 20013
(888) MEN-2-MEN (636-2636) Men's Healthline
(202) 543-MHN-1 (543-6461) x101
(202) 543-2727 Fax
info@menshealthweek.org
http://www.menshealthweek.org/
Materials available
Contact: Theresa Morrow

June is Myasthenia Gravis Awareness Month

2008-06-04T10:43:00.000-07:00

What is myasthenia gravis?
Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a chronic neuromuscular, autoimmune disorder that causes varying degrees of weakness involving the voluntary muscles of the body. Myasthenia gravis means “grave muscle weakness.” It can affect people of all races and in both sexes from infancy to senior citizen. The prevalence rate of patients with MG is estimated to be 20 per 100,000 population. MG may affect any voluntary muscle, but most commonly affects those that control eye movements, eyelids, chewing, swallowing, coughing and facial expression. Muscles that control breathing and movements of the arms and legs may also be affected. At present, the cause of myasthenia gravis is unknown, and there is no cure.

Myasthenia Gravis Awareness Month
Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America, Inc.
1821 University Avenue West, Suite S256
St. Paul, MN 55104-2897
(800) 541-5454
(651) 917-6256
(651) 917-1835 Fax

mgfa@myasthenia.org

http://www.myasthenia.org/

Materials available

June is National Scleroderma Awareness Month

2008-06-03T11:02:00.000-07:00

Scleroderma, or systemic sclerosis, is a chronic connective tissue disease generally classified as one of the autoimmune rheumatic diseases.

The word “scleroderma” comes from two Greek words: “sclero” meaning hard, and “derma” meaning skin. Hardening of the skin is one of the most visible manifestations of the disease. The disease has been called “progressive systemic sclerosis,” but the use of that term has been discouraged since it has been found that scleroderma is not necessarily progressive. The disease may take several forms which will be explained later. There is also much variability among patients.

What scleroderma is not
Scleroderma is not contagious, it is not infectious, it is not cancerous or malignant.

How serious is scleroderma?
Any chronic disease can be serious. The symptoms of scleroderma vary greatly from individual to individual, and the effects of scleroderma can range from very mild to life-threatening. The seriousness will depend on what parts of the body are affected and the extent to which they are affected. A mild case can become more serious if not properly treated. Prompt and proper diagnosis and treatment by qualified physicians may minimize the symptoms of scleroderma and lessen the chance for irreversible damage.

How is scleroderma diagnosed?
The diagnostic process may require consultation with rheumatologists (arthritis specialists), and/or dermatologists (skin specialists) and require blood studies and numerous other specialized tests depending upon which organs are affected.

Who develops scleroderma, and when?
There are an estimated 300,000 people in the United States who have scleroderma, about one third of whom have the systemic form of scleroderma. Since scleroderma presents with symptoms similar to other autoimmune diseases, diagnosis is difficult and there may be many misdiagnosed or undiagnosed cases as well.

Localized scleroderma is more common in children, whereas systemic scleroderma is more common in adults. Overall female patients outnumber male patients about four to one, and the average age at diagnosis is in the forties.

Factors other than sex, such as race and ethnic background, may influence the risk of getting scleroderma, the age of onset, and the pattern or severity of internal organ involvement. The reasons for this are not clear. Although scleroderma is not directly inherited, some scientists feel there is a slight predisposition to it in families with a history of rheumatic diseases.

However, scleroderma can develop and is found in every age group from infants to the elderly, but its onset is most frequent between the ages of 25 to 55. When doctors say "usually" or "for the most part," the reader should understand that variations frequently occur. Many patients get alarmed when they read medical information that seems to contradict their own experiences, and conclude that what has happened to them is not supposed to happen. There are many exceptions to the rules in scleroderma, perhaps more so than in other diseases. Each case is different, and information should be discussed with your own doctor.

What causes scleroderma?
The exact cause or causes of scleroderma are still unknown, but scientists and medical investigators in a wide variety of fields are working hard to make those determinations. It is known that scleroderma involves overproduction of collagen.

Is scleroderma genetic?
Most patients do not have any relatives with scleroderma and their children do not get scleroderma. Research indicates that there is a susceptibility gene which raises the likelihood of getting scleroderma, but by itself does not cause the disease.

What is the treatment for scleroderma?
At the present time, there is no cure for scleroderma, but there are many treatments available. Some are directed at particular symptoms like heartburn, which can be controlled by medications called proton pump inhibitors or medicine to improve the motion of the bowel. Some treatments are directed at decreasing the activity of the immune system. Some people with mild disease may not need medication at all and occasionally people can go off treatment when their scleroderma is no longer active. Because there is so much variation from one person to another there is great variation in the treatments prescribed.

Source: Scleroderma Foundation

National Scleroderma Awareness Month
Scleroderma Foundation
300 Rosewood Drive, Suite 105
Danvers, MA 01923
(800) 722-HOPE (4673)
(978) 463-5809 Fax
sfinfo@scleroderma.org
http://www.scleroderma.org/
Materials available
Contact: National Office or Local Chapters

June 1st. is National Cancer Survivor Day

2008-05-27T11:13:00.000-07:00

National Cancer Survivors Day is a big day on The Healing Project's calendar. Our organization was founded by Debra Lachance, a breast cancer survivor, and many in our community are continuing to deal with cancer in its many forms.

This year The Healing Project would like to highlight two leading members of the medical community contributions to changing the way in which cancer is being treated.

H. Michael Shepard, PhD

Dr. Shepard is a member of The Healing Project's Board of Directors. For more than three decades, this Alpert Prize winning scientist has been redefining the treatment of cancer and the development of therapeutics. This extremely humble man was the team leader of the Herceptin discovery team at Genentech. The team's work not only produced one of the most efficacious oncology agents in history but also changed drug discovery forever by demonstrating the potential of targeted therapies. Although this single discovery has changed the lives of millions of breast cancer patients across the world would represent crowning achievement of any researcher's career, Michael remains in the lab and at the bench. He, is a founder, president and CSO of Receptor BioLogix, a California-based biopharmaceutical company focused on developing a newly discovered class of protein therapeutics called Intron Fusion Proteins™ (IFP™) to treat cancer, autoimmune, metabolic and other diseases.

Dr. Shepard's work has been game-changing. You may not know his name, but you should. He is one of the world's great scientists whose actions and results speak louder words. As Michael would say, "Science First."

Stephanie F. Bernik, MD, FACS

Dr. Bernik is Chief of Breast Surgery for the comprehensive breast program at St. Vincent's Comprehensive Cancer Center in New York City. She is a scientific advisor for The Healing Project. A board certified surgeon specializing in breast diseases, Dr. Bernik has been at St. Vincent's Comprehensive Cancer Center since 2000. In that time, she has developed a specialty in treating young women under 40 diagnosed with the disease.

Stephanie's work with women afflicted with cancer at an early age is designed to tailor treatments for patients hoping to live long, healthy and fulfilling lives. Dr. Bernik defines the current generation of cancer clinicians that approach these diseases from the point of view that many, if not most, are chronic conditions. The key is to give science the time to cure these conditions.

We highlighted these brilliant individuals on Cancer Survivors Day to remind everyone in our community that since the War on Cancer was declared 40 years ago we have made enormous strides, but we have along way to go. All survivors, families and loved ones must continue to support the drive for cures across all cancers. This not only involves demanding funding for cancer research but also volunteering for clinical trials, offering cells and providing tissue to the scientific community. It may require another 40 years but the end of most cancers is within reach if the scientific, clinical and patient communities cooperate and coordinate their efforts.

About National Cancer Survivors Day®

National Cancer Survivors Day® is an annual, worldwide Celebration of Life that is held in hundreds of communities throughout the United States, Canada, and other participating countries. Participants unite in a symbolic event to show the world that life after a cancer diagnosis can be a reality.

In most areas, National Cancer Survivors Day is traditionally observed on the first Sunday in June, although this is not always possible due to scheduling conflicts and time differences. Celebrating its 21st year in 2008, NCSD is the world’s largest and fastest-growing annual cancer survivor event.

The non-profit National Cancer Survivors Day Foundation supports hundreds of hospitals, support groups, and other cancer-related organizations that host National Cancer Survivors Day events in their communities by providing free guidance, education and networking. Anyone considering hosting an NCSD event can obtain a free NCSD Planning Kit.

Who is a cancer survivor? The National Cancer Survivors Day Foundation defines a "survivor" as anyone living with a history of cancer – from the moment of diagnosis through the remainder of life. National Cancer Survivors Day affords your community an opportunity to demonstrate that it has an active, productive cancer survivor population.

So be sure to attend an official National Cancer Survivors Day event in your area. To locate an event near you, e-mail info@ncsdf.org or call 615-794-3006.

National Cancer Survivors Day
National Cancer Survivors Day Foundation
P.O. Box 682285
Franklin, TN 37068
(615) 794-3006
(615) 794-0179 Fax
info@ncsdf.org
http://www.ncsdf.org/
Materials available
Contact: None designated

Voices of Autism is Published by The Healing Project

2008-05-25T08:08:00.000-07:00

New Resource Available for Families Living with Autism
-- “Voices of Autism” Anthology Shares Real-Life Accounts of 40 Patients and Caregivers--

Autism is the fastest growing developmental disability in the U.S., with an approximate 10 - 17 percent increase in the 1990s. As more is learned about the disease, more resources for patients and caregivers are being developed. One new resource is a new anthology, Voices of Autism: The Healing Companion: Stories for Courage, Comfort and Strength chronicling the stories of more than 40 families living with autism.

Each person has their own tale to tell from the frustration of an autistic teenager unable to speak, yet knowing he is being left out of conversations in “The Price of Talk” to the sadness and fear of a mother as her son becomes a man in “Postpartum Blues Plus Twenty.”

The book has attracted the writing of Lynda Geller, PhD for the Introduction where she explains the disease state, diagnostic criteria and outlines current research in the field. Additionally, one Foreword was written by Aaron Liebowitz, MSW, who speaks of the challenges of being part of the solution for families and applauds the “unified voice” that the book brings to these individual situations. The other is written by a mother of an autistic son explaining the impact of autism on her son, her relationship, her family and household, her community and society-at-large.

Voices Of Book Series
The Voices Of book series was conceptualized by Debra LaChance, a breast cancer survivor who, when diagnosed, was overwhelmed by the vast amount of information available. She found solace in the personal account of another woman diagnosed with breast cancer and wanted to provide that opportunity to all patients coping with chronic and life-threatening diseases.

LaChance Publishing is donating 100% of profits to LaChance’s other entrepreneurial venture The Healing Project (www.thehealingproject.org), a non-profit organization dedicated to the education and support of those living with life-threatening and chronic illnesses. LaChance is also a Senior Vice-President at The Corcoran Group, a major real estate company in New York City.

Voices of Autism and all of the Voices Of books are available at bookstores everywhere and online at The Healing Project Website.

Voices of Autism, scheduled for release this month, received its first rave review from Library Journal

2008-05-17T16:34:00.000-07:00

From the Library Journal:

The fifth entry in the “Voices” anthology project from The Healing Project, this work includes over 40 different stories and vignettes written by parents, teachers, and people with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) that showcase how families and caregivers measure perseverance, understanding, and success. Many of the selections stand out, including an author’s account of her autistic son, a seventh grader’s perspective on her two siblings with autism, a memoir by an adult with autism who relied on a tire advertisement to get through tough times, and an account of the challenges of dating an adult with Asperger’s. The book’s real strengths are the adult-penned passages, which will give readers a better sense of what autism truly is. Taken individually, the stories show glimpses of the impact that autism has on individuals and those they love. Taken collectively, they paint a rich landscape that many will find familiar. Highly recommended for public libraries and academic libraries with disability collections.—Corey Seeman, Kresge Business Administration Library, Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Voices of Autism can be ordered at Amazon. Profits from the "Voices of Book Series" go to support The Healing Project.

Veterans Administration Saving Pennies by Failing to Diagnos PTSD

2008-05-16T11:04:00.000-07:00

The Veterans Administration was caught again running roughshod over our service members.

A few weeks ago we posted an item about the VA and DoD avoiding dealing with the suicide problem. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and VoteVets release email telling VA staff to “refrain from giving a diagnosis of PTSD straight out.” Please take a moment and read the e-mail. James Peake, MD, the head of the VA, repudiated the employee, but she remains on the job.

Well done. If you get caught doing what the boss wants done (General Peake has been party to ignoring PTSD and Mental Health since his days as the US Army Surgeon General), we will make a public statement and you keep your job (Dr. Peake make sure she gets a bonus for all those cost savings).

I gather the next revelation will be regarding traumatic brain injury. All the phony screening, bogus research, delay in disabilities payments has been ochestarted by the DoD and US Army since the beginning of OIF/OEF. General Peake and his flunkys at AMEDD rejected a series of proposals to fully screen all troopers for TBI pre-OEF. If you don't identify the injured, don't treat them, you need not pay for them.

Look at how much money we save. DoD and the VA have had the support of the highest reaches of government in this despicable mistreatment of American citizens. The Legislative Branch's inability to deal with these matters for years is almost equally distgusting.

Somewhere between 300,000 and 700,000 troopers have suffered PTSD, Mental Health Problems, and/or TBI. But knows knows who they are or the treatment they have received. The time for special committees, centers of excellence, blue ribbon commissions, fake research conducted by politically connected charlatans is over.

Call your Senator or Representative and demand investigations and prosecutions.

CDC Recommends People 60 and Older Receive the Shingles Vaccine

2008-05-16T09:57:00.000-07:00

The Center’s for Disease Control has created guidelines that all citizens 60 years of age or older should receive the shingles vaccine ZOSTAVAX. Insurance companies should now reimburse the cost of the vaccinations.

One million cases of shingles are reported each year with half the cases occurring in people 60 years old or older. 50% of all people reaching the age of 85 will contract shingles. Shingles is caused by chickenpox virus, and its effects range from mild to debilitating.

ZOSTAVAX reduces the likelihood of getting shingles by 50%. The cost of the Merck vaccine is approximately $150.

DEPRESSION: Out of the Shadows PREMIERES ON PBS MAY 21, 2008

2008-05-14T04:08:00.000-07:00

The Healing project wishes to alert the community about the presentation of DEPRESSION: Out of the Shadows premiering on PBS. Depression and related disorders touch almost every family. THere is no reason to be ashamed and there is help. Both talk-therapy and pharmaceutical interventions can help many, if not most, patients. It is OK to seek help and get treatment.

About the Program
A lot of Americans are keeping an important, possibly deadly secret.
The National Institute of Mental Health reports that approximately 18.8 million American adults have a depressive disorder. The disease is not discriminating, seeping into all age, race, gender, and socioeconomic groups. Depression stalls careers, strains relationships, and sometimes ends lives.

So if this many people are living with the disease, why the silence? DEPRESSION: Out of the Shadows is a multi-dimensional PBS project that explores the disease's complex terrain, offering a comprehensive and timely examination of this devastating disorder.

The first component of the project is a 90-minute documentary, premiering May 21, 2008, at 9:00 pm ET (check local listings). By weaving together the science and treatment of depression with intimate portrayals of families and individuals coping with its wide-ranging effects, the film raises awareness and eliminates the stigma surrounding this prevalent disease, underscoring the fact that whether we are battling it in our families, our workplaces, or in our own minds, depression touches everyone.

Through the voices and stories of people living with depression, the film provides a portrait of the disease never before seen on American television. Along with consumers, DEPRESSION: Out of the Shadows also follows acclaimed scientists as they describe the latest neurological research and groundbreaking new treatments for depression. Following the film, broadcast journalist Jane Pauley will host a 30-minute roundtable discussion titled TAKE ONE STEP: Caring for Depression, with Jane Pauley in which nationally acclaimed experts will offer advice on recognizing and treating depression.

May 11th-17th is Women's Health Week

2008-05-10T07:27:00.000-07:00

National Women's Health Week

The 9th annual National Women's Health Week will kick off on Mother's Day, May 11, 2008 and will be celebrated until May 17, 2008. National Women's Check-Up Day will be Monday, May 12, 2008.

National Women's Health Week empowers women across the country to get healthy by taking action. The nationwide initiative, coordinated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office on Women's Health (OWH), encourages women to make their health a top priority and take simple steps for a longer, healthier and happier life. During the week, families, communities, businesses, government, health organizations and other groups work together to educate women about steps they can take to improve their physical and mental health and prevent disease, like:

1. Engaging in physical activity most days of the week
2. Making healthy food choices
3. Visiting a healthcare provider to receive regular check-ups and preventive screenings
4. Avoiding risky behaviors, like smoking and not wearing a seatbelt

Office on Women's Health
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Avenue SW, Room 712 E
Washington, DC 20201
(202) 690-7651
(202) 401-4005 Fax
www.womenshealth.gov/whw
Materials available
Contact: None designated

May is National Arthritis Month

2008-05-09T07:07:00.000-07:00

National Arthritis Month

Arthritis Fooundation

1330 West Peachtree StreetAtlanta, GA 30309

(800) 283-7800 Voice -Toll-free(404) 872-7100 x 7888

Voice(404) 872-0457 Fax

help@arthritis.org

http://www.arthritis.org/

Materials available

Contact: Meera Venkatraman

May is Mental Health Month

2008-05-07T07:03:00.000-07:00

Mental Health Month
Mental Health America
P.O. Box 16810Alexandria, VA 22302-0810
(800) 969-6642
(703) 684-5968 Fax
infoctr@mentalhealthamerica.net
http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/
Materials available
Contact: Resource Center
http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/go/may

The House Veterans Affairs Committee chairman accuses VA of criminal negligence, he should have included the DoD as well.

2008-05-06T19:46:00.000-07:00

Dr. Ira Katz got caught lying to the press about suicide rates for veterans so he is now standing before the man. Of course James Peake, Veterans Affairs Secretary, defended Katz because he is largely responsible for the scandalous lack of preparation to handle troops returning from OIF/OEF with neurological and psychiatric problems. James Peake was the US Army Surgeon General from 2000 to 2004. During his tenure, his senior staff officers rejected the implementation of programs that would have dealt not only with mental health issues but also traumatic brain injury. US Army clinicians and researchers attached to Walter Read Army Medical were prepared to implement technology and protocols to deal with these issues before the Afghanistan deployment. AMEDD, the Army Medical Department, represented that they were prepared in 2002 even though it was not; and still isn't.

It is time for the Senate and House to call to account the entire chain of command from DoD and US Army Medcom as they have been responsible for one of the largest medical disasters in US history. Between 400,000 and 750,000 troops have been injured, gone unidentified and are untreated. No one knows who they are. Our jails, homeless shelters, drug rehab clinics and morgues will fill with veterans from these conflicts. This is a crime. It is medical negligence on a grand scale. It is time to go back an investigate the actions and lack of action taken by the DoD and US Army from 2001 forward. Senior officers, the rank of colonel or higher, responsible for epidemiology, traumatic brain injury and mental health should be called before the public, made to explain themselves, and summarily fired. If they are a member of the allied medical professions, their licenses should be revoked.

US Air Force Medcom should be empowered to take over these programs without the oversight of DoD or the involvement of the Joint Services “Red Cell.” The Air Force should further be directed to use the civilian medical sector, particularly the nation’s research hospitals, to treat the massive backlog of wounded active service members and veterans. (The VA should be left to deal with the aging veterans of past wars. It will take years to cure its gross mismanagement.) A hub and spoke system should be implemented similar to the highly successful NCCN cancer program. The objective would be to treat simple cases as close to the veterans homes as possible and complex cases at our finest medical centers that have the resources to handle the most complex injuries.

The $900MM of funding that congress allocated for mental health and traumatic brain injury is being squandered. Research has been delayed and solutions gone unimplemented. The Army’s objective has been to use faulty screening instruments (ANAM), faulty research (the problems related to TBI are transient and stress related), and faulty clinical practice (12 beds for patients in a vegetative state when there is need for 400 – the poly trauma centers are not what they were cracked up to be) in order to demonstrate that they are doing everything. It is pure nonsense.

This is not to say the VA, US Army, and US Navy don’t have some extraordinary practitioners. The field medical personnel of these wars should be lionized as they have demonstrated the resolve to do the undoable. Regrettably, these gallant men and women are not in-charge. Many are separating from the service as quickly as is practical due to incompetent leadership. People like the disgraced general, Kevin Kiley, are in-charge. Follow the party line, don’t report the wounded and don’t treat them. God forbid the Army may have to pay disability for injuries that don’t involve an amputation or blindness. TBI is like a sports injury. Sure! If they understood how serious many sports concussions can be, they would shut up. These blast injuries are far more complex and more serious, but research was repeatedly disrupted or blocked. I will not bother to rant about mental health as the military posture is so outdated it defies comment.

Call your congressmen and demand action. The current buffoons that have abused our troops will exit with this administration, but our active service members and veterans need help now.

May is Melanoma/Skin Cancer Detection and Prevention Month

2008-05-06T06:55:00.000-07:00

Fast Facts About Skin Cancer and Melanoma

More than 1 million new cases of skin cancer will be diagnosed in the United States this year.

1 in 5 Americans will develop some form of skin cancer during their lifetime.

There will be about 108,230 new cases of melanoma in 2007 — 48,290 in situ (noninvasive) and 59,940 invasive (33,910 men and 26,030 women).

In 2007, at current rates, a person has a one in 33 chance of developing melanoma (both in situ and invasive). The risk of developing invasive melanoma is one in 63.
Invasive melanoma is the sixth most common cancer in men and women.

Melanoma is the second most common cancer in women aged 20-29.5

One American dies of melanoma almost every hour (every 65 minutes). In 2007, 8,110 deaths will be attributed to melanoma — 5,220 men and 2,890 women.6 Older Caucasian males have the highest mortality rates from melanoma.

An estimated 10,850 people will die of skin cancer this year, 8,110 from melanoma and 2,740 from other skin cancers.

The World Health Organization estimates that as many as 60,000 people a year worldwide die from too much sun, mostly from malignant skin cancer. Of these deaths, 48,000 are from melanoma, and 12,000 are from other skin cancers. About 90 percent of these cancers are caused by ultraviolet light from the sun.

The incidence of melanoma has increased 690 percent from 1950 to 2001, and the overall mortality rate increased 165 percent during this same period.

More than 75 percent of skin cancer deaths are from melanoma.

Both basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma have a better than 95 percent five-year cure rate if detected and treated early.

The five year survival rate for people whose melanoma is detected and treated before it spreads is 99 percent.

Between 1996 and 2002, the five year survival rate for melanomas detected at all stages increased to 92 percent from 82 percent between 1975 and 1977.

In 2004, the total direct cost associated with the treatment for non-melanoma skin cancer was $1.5 billion. Of that, $1.2 billion is attributed to care received in physician offices.14

Source: American Association Dermatology

Melanoma/Skin Cancer Detection and Prevention Month
American Academy of Dermatology
930 East Woodfield Road
Schaumburg, IL 60173
(888) 462-DERM (462-3376)
(847) 330-0230
(847) 330-8907 Fax
mediarelations@aad.org
www.aad.org
Materials available
Contact: Jennifer Allyn

May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month

2008-05-05T06:46:00.000-07:00

Lyme Disease Awareness Month
Lyme Disease Foundation
P.O. Box 332 Tolland, CT 06084
(800) 886-5963
(860) 870-0070
(860) 870-0080 Fax
info@lyme.org
http://www.lyme.org/
Materials available
Contact: Thomas Forschner

Gender Differences Affect the Development of Dementia

2008-05-04T10:19:00.000-07:00

The Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry published an article, Risk profiles for mild cognitive impairment and progression to dementia are gender specific, that presents finding that men and women have different risk profiles for the development of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

French researcher’s conducted a study of approximately 7,000 subjects 65 and over in three French cities. The screening excluded patients presenting dementia but included subjects with mild-Cognitive Impairment (approximately 40% of the sample). The subjects were tested at inclusion and retested in two and four year intervals.

6.5% patients presenting with mild-Cognitive Impairment developed some for of dementia within 4 years. 50% of the sample remained stable and 33% of the sample had their cognitive function return to normal.

The French researchers found:

Subjects that had ApoE 4 marker were more likely to progress from mild-Cogntive Impairment to dementia;

Female subjects with depression and those taking anticholinergic medications were more likely to progress from mild-Cognitive Impairment to dementia;

Female subjects with mild-Cognitive Impairment was a positively associated poor general health, disability and lacking a support network with conversion to dementia;

Female subject who could not perform basic activities of daily living converted at a 3.5x the sample and those with depression converted at 2x the rate.

Male subjects mild-Cognitive Impairment was positively associated with overweight, having diabetes, and having a history of stroke;

Male subjects with mild-Cognitive Impairment was positively associated with being overweight, diabetic, and having a history of stroke converting to dementia;

Male subjects with a history of stroke converted from mild-Cognitive Impairment to dementia at three times the rate of other subjects;

The Healing Project has strongly advocated in the past and still advocates routine screening for cognitive impairment because in many cases it reflects conditions that can be treated and fully reverse the cognitive impairment. Clinical treatment protocols should take into account possible gender differences and seek to reverse where possible mild-Cognitive Impairment.

May 7th. is National Anxiety Screening Day

2008-05-04T07:10:00.000-07:00

National Anxiety Disorders Screening Day

Freedom From Fear

308 Seaview Avenue

Staten Island, NY 10305

(718) 351-1717

(888) 442-2022

Free anxiety/depression screening

(718) 980-5022 Fax

mailto:help@freedomfromfear.org

http://www.freedomfromfear.org/

Materials available

Contact: Jeanine Christiana

May is Lupus Awareness Month

2008-05-03T06:32:00.000-07:00

What is Lupus

Lupus is a widespread and chronic autoimmune disease that, for unknown reasons, causes the immune system to attack the body's own tissue and organs, including the joints, kidneys, heart, lungs, brain, blood, or skin.

STATISTICS AND DEMOGRAPHICS
The Lupus Foundation of America estimates that approximately 1,400,000 Americans, mostly women, have a form of the disease.

Lupus occurs 10 to 15 times more frequently among adult females than adult males.
Lupus develops most often in women between ages 15 and 44, but can affect people of all ages.
Lupus is two to three times more common among African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, and Native Americans.

Causes of Lupus

Lupus is NOT infectious, rare, or cancerous.

While scientists believe there is a genetic predisposition to the disease, it is known that environmental factors also play a role in triggering lupus.

Some of the factors that may trigger lupus include infections, antibiotics, ultraviolet light, extreme stress, certain drugs, and hormones.

Hormonal factors may explain why lupus occurs more frequently in females than in males.

There is no cure for lupus but there are treatments.

For additional information about lupus or the LFA, call toll-free 1-888-38-LUPUS, or visit the LFA web site at http://www.lupus.org/.

Source: Lupus Foundation of America

Lupus Awareness Month
Lupus Foundation of America, Inc.
2000 L Street NW, Suite 710
Washington, DC 20036
(888) 385-8787
(202) 349-1156 Fax
info@lupus.org
www.lupus.org
Materials available
Contact: Duane Peters

Measles Outbreaks Linked to Lack of Vaccination and International Travel

2008-05-01T19:02:00.000-07:00

Multiple outbreaks of measles are being investigated by CDC and state health authorities. Measles is a highly contagious disease spread through coughing or sneezing. Symptoms can include rash, high fever, coughing, and runny nose. The disease can also cause more serious complications, such as ear infections, pneumonia, encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) — even death.

Since the turn of the year, CDC received a total of 64 reports of confirmed measles cases in nine states. Arizona, New York, Michigan, and Wisconsin all experienced more than three cases. All cases are considered related to overseas travel including Europe and Israel.

Of the 64 people infected, 63 had no documentation of compliant vaccination with 14 too young to be vaccinated.

Measles was considered eliminated from the US in 2000, but is easily imported from other parts of the world. 20 million cases of measles still occur each year, and the disease is a significant cause of vaccine-preventable death among children. In 2005, 311,000 children under age 5 died from the disease.

CDC Recommendations:
All children should receive two doses of MMR vaccine. The first dose is recommended at 12–15 months of age and the second dose at 4–6 years of age. All adults born during or after 1957 should receive at least one dose of vaccine unless they have documented evidence of measles immunity (a blood test or a physician's diagnosis of measles). Two doses are recommended for all international travelers, healthcare personnel, and students of secondary and post-secondary educational facilities. Infants 6–11 months of age should receive one dose prior to travel abroad.

May is Healthy Vision Month

2008-05-01T06:28:00.000-07:00

"Eye Safety is Everyone's Business" has been selected by National Eye Institute (NEI) as the theme for this year’s May observance of Healthy Eyes Month. Prompted by what officials believe is a large number of preventable on-the-job eye injuries, NEI is launching a drive to increase the use of proper safety eyewear in the workplace. The institute is asking optometrists and other eye care providers to play a major role.

Vision and Hearing Chapter
For the first time, vision objectives have been included in Healthy People 2010, a national disease prevention initiative that identifies opportunities to improve the health of all Americans.

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Healthy People identifies the most significant preventable threats to health, and establishes national goals to reduce these threats. The chapter on vision addresses visual impairment due to eye disease and refractive error; regular eye examinations for children and adults; vision screening for pre-school children; injury prevention; and vision rehabilitation. Most states and many localities use the Healthy People framework to guide local health policies and programs.

Healthy Vision Month
National Eye Institute
National Institutes of Health
Building 31, Room 6A3231 Center Drive MSC
2510Bethesda, MD 20892-25210
(301) 496-5248
(301) 402-1065 Fax
http://www.healthyvision2010.nei.nih.gov/
Materials available
Contact: Linda Huss

Researchers Develop a Method to Rapidly Create Monoclonal Antibodies

2008-04-30T17:51:00.000-07:00

The Journal Nature reported today that researchers at Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation and Emory Vaccine Center reported a method to rapidly produce human monoclonal antibodies.

Currently monoclonal antibodies rely on mice to produce the monoclonal antibodies. The researchers humanized the mouse derived pieces to accelerated and enhance the yield of suitable antibodies.

To get around that problem, researchers now "humanize" the antibodies, replacing some or all of mouse-derived pieces with human ones. The technique increased the yield from .1% to 70% in their experiment. The technique also cut the time to develop an antibody to a few weeks instead of up to 2 years.

The utility of this process is fairly plain as diagnostics and therapies can be developed on a short time horizon to blunt potential pandemics.

This research was supported by the National Institutes of Immune and Infectous Disease.

A fine article for the laymen is presented in Scientific American.

Aspirin Cuts Risk of Common Form of Breast Cancer

2008-04-30T17:26:00.000-07:00

Researchers from the National Cancer Institute published finding today that affirmed aspirins reputation as a wonder drug. A daily administration of aspirin reduced the risk of developing ER- positive breast cancer by 16%. ER-positive breast cancer represents approximately 75% of all breast cancer cases in women. This confirms earlier studies conducted by Columbia University researchers.

The research involved about 127,000 women aged 51 to 72 from around the United States who were cancer-free when the study began. About 18 percent of the women were daily aspirin users. They were tracked for seven years and about 4,500 of them developed breast cancer.

Aspirin has long been administered for its analgesic qualities and it has long been used to treat cardiac and hematological conditions. Further it has also demonstrated that it may reduce the risk of colorectal cancer.

Before electing to take aspirin daily one should discuss it with your healthcare provider due to adverse reactions that are associated with daily administration. The complete study can be reviewed online.

May is American Stroke Month

2008-04-28T06:17:00.000-07:00

American Stroke Month
American Heart Association
7272 Greenville Avenue
Dallas, TX 75231
(800) 242-8721
http://www.blogger.com/mail
http://www.americanheart.org/
Materials available
Contact: Program departments or local chapters

A special program for American Stroke Month is the Power to End Stroke.
Power To End Stroke is an educational program that addresses the needs of African Americans who have higher rates of stroke than any other racial or ethnic group.

The Deadly Intersection of the Flu and MRSA

2008-04-26T15:24:00.000-07:00

ABC News and the Boston Globe have run reports highlighting the potential threat of co-infection of influenza and MRSA. Influenza kills at least 35,000 people in the US every year. This year’s influenza vaccine was less effective against the strains common this year. Each year the selection of vaccine type is a guessing game and mortality from flu will likely be higher this year. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a superbug that is resistant to common antibiotics because it is the product of the over use of common antibiotics. While MRSA can be successfully treated, for now, the likelihood of higher mortality rates when flu and MSRA are experienced concurrently is a near certainty.

The co-infection of viral and bacterial infections points to a serious problem that may grow difficult to control. The rise of not only MSRA but also more and more antibiotic resistant strains of common and once deadly infections coupled with a potent viral illness such as bird flu, SARS or drug resistant TB could result in a health catastrophe.

Is this a perfect storm?
All signs point to that direction. Drug resistant strains of infections continue to evolve, more diseases are jumping from animals to humans, the development of new antibiotics and anti-virals are difficullt and offers poor returns to developers, and the community is slowly losing its herd immunity due to misinformation about vaccination.

Why are we here?
Since the 1940’s science and medicine has successfully controlled and treated once deadly diseases en-mass. The population has been lulled into a false sense of security, if not addressed shortly, will result in a pandemic. For the time being, the best method of delay is flu vaccination and other vaccinations to prevent viral outbreaks and blunt antibiotic resistant strains infection from behaving opportunistically.

Regrettably, the CDC, AMA, FDA, family physicians, the pharmaceutical industry and the public health community have done a poor job communicating the importance of vaccination and its safety. In there place an odd confluence of anti-evolution, anti-science, home schooling religious zealots have linked up with Prius driving, McMansion-living, organic food eating Luddites that have started to dominate the discussion. Twenty states offer vaccination opt-out programs that are, in general, overly liberal. This is brilliant, risk public health based on emotion and not scientific evidence. Jenny McCarthy has no background in science or medicine. It is unclear whether she completed high school biology. Yet she appears on Larry King berating epidemiologists, virologists and physicians regarding vaccination. While I feel sorry for parents with children with unexplained neurological conditions, grasping at straws and seeking to attach blame to vaccines threatens the health of entire society.

Vaccinations do not cause autism. Autism is a description of symptoms not a disease. Don’t trust the CDC; Danish, British, and Canadian scientists have published peer-reviewed studies that present finding that are not consistent with vaccines being a causative factor in the development of symptoms consistent with autism. The studies claiming causative connections were very poorly designed an executed.

Very shortly, we will see the first of a series of very promising treatments for both Fragile X and certain types of autism put into humans. These treatments are the results of efforts of dozens of scientists laboring in obscurity for nearly two decades with insufficient funding. The time and funding wasted by people with agendas far away from science including but not limited to studying the effects of alternative medicine, prayers or happiness on disease is tragic. Science can provide a path to cure many diseases but when it is ignored by the people it can most help, little is accomplished.

Let’s get behind our scientific community and provide the funding to find treatments and cures. In the meantime, make sure to get both you and your children get vaccinated.

Diet Influences the Incidence of Breast Cancer

2008-04-25T18:55:00.000-07:00

Canadian researchers authored a study published in Journal of Cancer Detection and Prevention that suggest that dietary patterns influence the development of breast cancer for women with and without a genetic predisposition to the disease.

The research was a retrospective study analyzing 9 years of data through 2007. The results indicated that a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, low fat dairy products, fish, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, vitamin D, calcium, and phytoestrogens is associated with a reduction in the incidence of breast cancer. A diet that has a high intake of meats or saturated fats is associated with an increase in the incidence of breast cancer.

Additional research is being conducted to tease out the critical factors tying diet to the development of breast cancer.

Cancer immunotherapy shows promise in Lung Cancer

2008-04-25T12:01:00.000-07:00

Long-term clinical trial results were presented today at the 1st European Lung Cancer Conference demonstrate that MAGE-A3 ASCI (Antigen-Specific Cancer Immunotherapeutic), an immune-boosting treatment for lung cancer patients, reduces the risk of relapse after surgery -- to the same extent as chemotherapy.

Prof. Johan Vansteenkiste from University Hospital Gasthuisberg in Belgium described the results after 44-months follow-up from a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in 182 patients with non-small-cell lung cancer -- the most common form of the disease.

"The aim is to help the body immune system to recognize the MAGE-A3 antigen and therefore eliminate the cancer cells that express MAGE-A3," explains Prof. Vansteenkiste. "In other words, it is a kind of treatment method that makes the body immune system specifically attack the lung cancer cells."

After 44 months, 69 of 182 patients had experienced a recurrence of their cancer, including 57 deaths. Those given the MAGE-A3 injections had longer on average before their cancer recurred, were less likely to have any recurrence, and were less likely to die.

"Surgical resection is the standard treatment for patients with early stage lung cancer, but after complete resection about 50% will relapse and die from their cancer," says Prof. Vansteenkiste. "Postoperative chemotherapy is able to improve cure rates, but is sometimes poorly tolerated by patients recovering from thoracic surgery. In addition, not all patients are fit to receive chemotherapy.

Most patients only experience mild reactions at the injection site and fever within 24 hours of the injection, he explained. "Therefore, it is suitable for long-term maintenance treatment and for most patients, including older patients or patients in weak physical condition after surgery, allowing them to live a normal life whilst on cancer treatment." A large Phase III trial of the therapy, named MAGRIT, is now underway.

Common Viruses May Play a Role in the Development of Lung Cancer

2008-04-25T11:42:00.000-07:00

Papers presented at the 1st European Lung Cancer Conference demonstrate that common viruses may play a role in the development of lung cancer. While smoking is the leading risk factor in developing lung cancer, other factors do play a role including radon, mineral dust exposure and now exposure to certain viruses.

Dr. Arash Rezazadeh and colleagues from the University of Louisville, Kentucky, USA, presented an article that described the results of a study on 23 lung cancer samples from patients in Kentucky.

The researchers found six samples that tested positive for the presence of human papilloma virus (HPV), the virus that also causes many cases of cervical cancer. One was later shown to be a cervical cancer that had spread to the lungs. Of the remaining 5 virus-positive samples, two were HPV type 16, two were HPV type 11 and one was HPV type 22.

All subjects were smokers. However, evidence that 6 of 23 should evidence of HPV would warrant a larger sample and further investigation to determine the role HPV may have in the development of lung cancer. Further, samples should be taken from subjects who have never smoked or been subjected to other common risk factors.

A second paper by Israeli researchers suggests that measles virus may also be a factor in some lung cancers. Their study included 65 patients with non-small-cell lung cancer, of whom more than half had evidence of measles virus in tissue samples taken from their tumors. The lead author, Prof. Samuel Ariad from Soroka Medical Center in Beer Sheva, Israel suggests that measles is most likely acts in modifying the effect of other carcinogens and not as a causative factor by itself.

Veterans Continue to Get Shafted Again and Again and…

2008-04-23T18:33:00.000-07:00

The continued tragicomedy regarding the Department of Veterans Affairs tabulation of cases of suicides continues in Washington. Watching senators and representatives express indignation at the treatment of veterans is good political theater but is unlikely to change anything. Senior staff of numerous senators and representatives have been aware of the documented mistreatment of veterans for years. This is not limited to suicide but also general mental health and traumatic brain injury. No one gets fired, no one gets their pensions reclaimed, and no medical staffer has his or her license revoked. General Kiley was responsible for leaving wounded troops in the snow and he will retire with a full pension and works out of nice office in the Pentagon.

The DoD, VA and Tricare happily represent to our elected officials that everything is being done. Pure nonsense!!! The suicide issue only warranted political action because the VA got caught lying to CBS News. Politicians should transfer all spending on suicide, traumatic brain injury and mental health to an independent commission led by scientists, physicians and psychologists who are not connected to any government agencies. I have no doubt that our research and teaching hospitals can and could have provided excellent treatment and triage without the unneeded expense of attempting to rebuild the VA. A plan of this nature was presented to the Dole commission but was ignored. The civilian medical system is and was prepared to accept patients to clear the backlog and apply the most appropriate technologies to serve our warriors.

Let’s face it. There is a premium on holding the casualty count down and making sure that disability payments are not made. Field medical officers of the military knew what preparations should be made before deployment to Afghanistan especially to address likelihood of neurological insult and psychiatric disorders. As early as 2004, field medical officers in all three branches knew that it was time to start ramping-up psychiatric services as a large number of troopers were returning with depression, anxiety and PTSD. The chain of command did not care and to this day is manned by medically unqualified officers. You will find so-called experts at the DoD include a homeopathic dentist, general practitioners, a PhD in physical rehab. What they know about suicide, mental health or TBI is questionable. Where are the neurosurgeons, the neurologists, psychiatrists and the neuropsychologists? The DoD does not use the people most qualified practitioners because they will not follow a political agenda driven by Washington.

We have no more time for special blue ribbon panels, for veterans’ organizations with their heads in the sand, for politicians blabbering without backing up their words with action. Hundreds of thousands of vets are wounded and can be treated. Stop the nonsense – identify the wounded and treat them. The technology and methodology exist; it simply needs to be applied by parties more concerned with serving the people than a bunch of bureaucrats. It will be cheaper than the costs of incarceration, mortuary services, alcohol treatment, substance abuse treatment and long-term unemployment. The bill is due, and it is time to pay.

US Life Expectantcy Declining for a Significant Portion of the Population

2008-04-22T17:51:00.000-07:00

For the first time since 1918, following the outbreak of Spanish Flu Pandemic, life expectancy for a significant number of Americans is in decline. Although life span has generally increased since 1961, the authors reported, it began to level off or even decline in the 1980s for 4 percent of men and 19 percent of women .In close to 1,000 counties, home to apprximately 12 percent of the nation's women, life expectancy is now shorter than it was in the early 1980s, according to a study published today.

The trend is attributable to a leveling in gains from cardiac disease and an increase in deaths from diabetes, lung cancer, hypertension, emphysema and kidney failure. The reduction in male life spans was influenced by the incidence of HIV and homicide.

Socio-economic factors certainly play a role. Behaviors commonly exhibited by less educated and less prosperous people including smoking, alcohol excess, poor diet, lack of exercise, and a generally lower regard for future health results in premature death.

The counties exhibiting significant declines in life expectancy were concentrated in Appalachia, the Southeast, Texas, the southern Midwest and along the Mississippi River. Life expectancy increases were concentrated primarily in counties in Northeast and on the Pacific Coast.

What can be done?
Education is first and foremost;
Intensify preventive medicine efforts in the worst-off counties;
Utilize evidence-based medicine;
Actively discourage smoking;
Actively reduce alcohol consumption and drug abuse;
Encourage better nutrition and exercise;
Increase the quality and availability of sex education; and
Intensify chronic disease management with an emphasis of obesity, hyper-tension and diabetes.

For the complete report, visit PLoS.

Melanoma on the Scalp and Neck are Most Deadly

2008-04-21T16:33:00.001-07:00

Patients with melanoma on the scalp or neck died at nearly twice the rate of those with melanoma elsewhere on the body, the researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found. The best prognosis was for patients that had melanoma on the arms, legs, face or ears.

The study analyzed 51,704 people diagnosed with melanoma in the United States from 1992 to 2003. The study concluded that survival rates varied depended on where on the body it first appeared.

Melanoma is the most deadly form of skin cancer and can easily metastasize while the lesions are small.

The study showed a five-year survival rate for people with scalp or neck melanomas at 83 percent, compared with 92 percent for those with melanomas elsewhere on the body. The 10-year survival rate for people with scalp or neck melanomas was 76 percent, compared to 89 percent for other melanomas.

The study showed that 43 percent of the people in the study had melanomas on their arms or legs, 34 percent on the trunk, 12 percent on the face or ears, 6 percent on the scalp or neck and 4 percent at an unspecified site.

It strongly implies that dermatologists conducting screening should pay special attention to the head and scalp due to the higher rates of mortality.

Melanoma is the leading cause of death from skin disease. Rates of melanoma have been increasing in recent years. Melanoma is often first detected when there is a change in the size, shape or appearance of a mole.

Melanoma can be linked to sun exposure, especially sunburns during childhood. People with fairer skin are at elevated risk, and some people have a family history of melanoma.

The ACS reports that an estimated 62,000 cases of melanoma will be reported this year and 8,400 will die of the disease.

Herceptin in combination with Chemotherapy Eliminates Tumors in Half the Targeted Patients Without Surgery

2008-04-20T05:40:00.000-07:00

The results of study presented European Breast Cancer Conference in Berlin. The treatment was targeted at 453 HER2 positive women with early-stage breast canncer. 45.5 per cent were found cancer free following the combination course before surgery. The response from Herceptin in combination is more than double than that of traditional chemotherapy alone. No serious side-effects were reported, but patients receiving Herceptin should always be monitored closely for potential cardiac problems.

It points to the possiblity that women with this highly aggressive form of breast cancer may find a cure within the next decade.

Cognitive Impairment Identified in 1 in 5 Seniors

2008-04-19T07:50:00.000-07:00

Meaningful cognitive impairment afflicts 1 in 5 Seniors reports Joan Arehart-Treichel in Psychiatric News.

American, Canadian and European researchers have estimated that between 17% and 27% present evidence of measurable cognitive impairment without dementia.

The Healing Project has strongly advocated better diagnostic procedures be utilized in meeting the needs of the elderly. Dementia is often misdiagnosed or is failed to be diagnosed. If you or a loved one feels that they are not thinking clearly make sure to see an experienced psychiatrist, gerontologist or neurologist to make a diagnosis.

Common causes of cognitive deficits without dementia include alcohol abuse, depression, diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.

Given the common nature of this disorder, one should realize in many cases it is reversible. First and foremost as we age we all become somewhat less sharp; don’t be alarmed. In some cases, the decline may be treatable and/or reversible. On the other hand, exercise, better nutrition, lowering cholesterol, and managing blood pressure can only have beneficial effects on one’s mind.

The Healing Project highly recommends the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation’s Practical Guide to Achieving and Maintaining Cognitive Vitality with Aging. It is cogent and useful. It was authored by Dr. Howard Fillet one our nation’s leading dementia researchers and clinicians.

The FDA Should Allow Peer-Reviewed Journal Republication As a Promotional Tool

2008-04-18T19:35:00.000-07:00

The Food and Drug Administration has been considering a proposal to let drug makers use reprints of journal articles in promoting drugs for so-called off-label uses the FDA itself has not approved. The FDA would require the all publications circulated would have to be republished from a peer-reviewed medical journal. For patients in all groups across the US this plan offers the opportunity to receive therapies that are often delivered in our finest research institutions. The impact in the fields of oncology, psychiatry and neurology could be profound.

The Healing Project not only supports this initiative but also that of Abigail’s Alliance that seeks easier access to experimental treatments for people suffering from life threatening diseases. It is time to grow-up. Many things can injure us including food, vitamins, supplements etc. The FDA, CDC, and NIH are grossly under-funded and treatments that would benefit many patients are left catching dust because of the hostile regulatory environment and penurious insurance company gate keepers.

Nonetheless, the opponents of this proposal rightly point out that bad actors in the marketing departments of pharmaceuticals companies could game the system. Ghostwritten articles and manufactured research could be used to promote the inappropriate use of compounds. Regrettably, the industry’s hands are dirty as demonstrated by the recent admission that Merck shaped an article published in JAMA. The Healing Project has enormous respect for the researchers within the pharmaceutical industry but marketing has far too much to say. In order to ensure that this initiative is adopted, the industry should volunteer to accept a harsh penalty for fabricating articles and or manipulating research utilized to promote off-label prescriptions. The owner of the compound would forfeit one or more years of gross profit attributable to the agent. Further, the authors attached to the article should be deemed ineligible for any federal or state funding for a period of no less than five years. With penalties in place, it is quite likely the research promoted would be clean and patients would be eligible for medications they often desperately require.

One In Five Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Suffer from PTSD or Major Depression

2008-04-17T17:29:00.000-07:00

The Rand Corporation published a study today that states that nearly 20 percent (300,000) of military service members who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder or major depression.

Only slightly more the half reporting symptoms sought treatment. The reasons most often sighted for not seeking treatment were the potential negative effect on career progress. Of those who sought treatment approximately half received minimally acceptable levels of treatment.

In addition, researchers found about 19 percent of returning service members report that they experienced a possible traumatic brain injury while deployed, with 7 percent reporting both a probable brain injury and current PTSD or major depression.

"There is a major health crisis facing those men and women who have served our nation in Iraq and Afghanistan," said Terri Tanielian, the project's co-leader and a researcher at RAND, a nonprofit research organization. "Unless they receive appropriate and effective care for these mental health conditions, there will be long-term consequences for them and for the nation.

Researchers also found an urgent need to train more mental health providers throughout the U.S. health care system on delivering evidence-based treatments to service members and veterans. While many opportunities for treatment exist for active-duty personnel, there is no system in place to monitor the quality of those services to ensure they are getting the latest science-based forms of treatment.

Researchers suggest special training programs are needed to instruct mental health providers in the military, veterans and civilian health systems about the type of evidence-based treatments needed by service members. Only providers with such training should be eligible to treat service members and payment programs should be retooled to reward providers who use science-based treatments. "It's going to take system-level changes — not a series of small band-aids — to improve treatments for these illnesses," Tanielian said.

Regrettably much of this problem was foreseen and preventable. Health professionals across the services recognized the potential for both cognitive and psychological injuries before the first deployment to Afghanistan. For years and to this day the DoD, VA and Tricare have actively avoided applying technologies that would have screened, identified, cataloged and tracked these wounded service members. For Rand to suggest the DoD, VA and Triacare to be left entrusted with supervising the care of the service members is laughable. The leadership of these entities have failed to address either psychological or cognitive injuries for seven years. In addition, Congress, the Senate and Veterans Organizations have been aware of both the problem and solutions for years and have done nothing to fix the problem. Casualty counts will increase by an order of magnitude, treatment costs will explode and disability payments will sore. No one wants Instead, many of these service members will end up on the streets, in the penal system, in morgues, alcoholic and/or drug addicted. Well done.

It is time to remove the current leadership for all elements or military and veterans’ medical care. Further, the commanders responsible for this gross maltreatment of our service members should be identified, have their pensions reclaimed, be reduced in rank, cashiered and have their medical licenses revoked for negligence. When the Walter Reade scandal broke, General Kiley, the US Army Surgeon General, suffered no injury. He was given an office in the Pentagon and will retire as a full three star general. It sent the message to all line officers that regardless of how you treat the wounded as long as you keep the costs down you are only risk public ridicule. If you fight for better treatment for our service members, you are making a career limiting decision.

Expect no change, no one cares. It is an election year, and vets are like puppies. You got to love them publicly but who cares when they are out of sight.

The report is titled "Invisible Wounds of War: Psychological and Cognitive Injuries, Their Consequences, and Services to Assist Recovery." The full report and several summaries are available at http://veterans.rand.org/
.

Lifestyle Affects the Development of Alzheimer’s

2008-04-17T06:44:00.000-07:00

Two studies presented at the American Academy of Neurology meeting pointed to link between smoking drinking and cholesterol levels and the development of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD).

In a study of 900 people over 60 conducted by Mt Sinai Hospital (New York) found people who had more than 2 drinks a day and those who smoked more than a pack of cigarettes coupled with have the ApOE4 gene variant developed AD on accelerated basis. Smokers developed AD two years earlier than expected and drinkers five years earlier than expected. If you were both a heavy smoker and heavy drinker with the ApOE4 expression you would develop AD 8.5 years earlier than expected.

If one wish to delay the onset of AD stop smoking and curtail your consumption of alcohol.

A second study tracked 9,700 men and women from age 40 tracking the level of cholesterol and the rate of development of AD. It found that individual in the high cholesterol group were 1 and ½ times more likely to develop AD than the low cholesterol group.

If you wish to reduce your chances of developing dementia, eat a balanced diet, exercise, control your cholesterol and watch your weight.

These studies affirm that are genetics are not the sole determinant of outcome and that we can adjust our lifestyles to delay the onset of dementia.

High Doses of vitamin E in Combination with a Cholinesterase Inhibitor Show a Decrease in Mortality

2008-04-16T18:38:00.000-07:00

This study conflicts with recent studies that demonstrated increased mortality associated with high doses of vitamin E. In addition, some studies have demonstrated an increase in Lung Cancer associated with high doses of vitamin E.

This study was conducted over 15 years tracking survival rates among 847 men and women already diagnosed with various stages of Alzheimer's by Valory Pavlik of Baylor College of Medicine's Alzheimer's Disease and Memory Disorders Center in Houston, Texas. Patients were prescribed two daily doses of 1000 IUs of vitamin E. The researchers found that patients who consumed the prescribed daily dosage of vitamin E appeared to extend their life span by 26 percent, compared with those not taking vitamin E. The study controlled for age, gender, years of education, race, ethnicity, co-morbidities and severity of dementia at the point of inclusion in the study.

These results would argue additional research is required.

Lipitor Fails to Demonstrate a Positive Effect as an Adjunctive Therapy with Aricept

2008-04-16T18:15:00.000-07:00

The LEADe study was 18 months in duration and included 640 patients. The patients presented with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the addition of Lipitor (atorvastatin calcium tablets) 80 mg to Aricept® (donepezil HCl) 10 mg showed no significant differences in cognition or global function (key measures of Alzheimer’s progression) compared to placebo plus Aricept 10 mg. No statistically significant results were demonstrated on secondary end-points that included cognitive, behavioral and functional measures.

A more interesting study would be to investigate the statin families prophylactic efficacy on a broad range of dementias. It is reasonably to hypothesize that statins may have a positive effect on a range of dementia by reducing the stress on the coronary system and/or reducing inflammation.

Long-term use of Hormone Therapy Does not Influence the Incidence of Dementia

2008-04-16T17:31:00.000-07:00

The long-term use of estrogen or estrogen plus progestin hormone therapy does not reduce the risk of dementia, according to findings published in the American Journal of Epidemiology. The study was by led Dr. Valerie Crooks, of Kaiser Permanente Southern California, Pasadena. The study included 2,900 dementia free women at baseline with 1500 on hormone therapy. The subjects were at least 75 years of age. Tests were conducted annually to measure cognitive ability.

Of the 1500 of the women in the study were hormone users, the average age at the start of hormone therapy was 48.3 years for those who used estrogen alone and 54.9 years for those who used estrogen/progestin. The average duration of hormone use was 30.5 years and 23.2 years for estrogen and estrogen/progestin users, respectively.

283 women developed dementia during over the course of the study. The study controlled for age, education, and medical history. The conclusion is that hormone use did not affect the risk of dementia when the intervention begins near or around post-menopause.

Hormone therapy cannot be fully dismissed as the types of hormones, levels of hormones, and the time of first administration has not been fully examined. Further, the identification of subsets of patients that might benefit from a hormone intervention has not been identified. More work is needed.

April 19-26 is National Infant Immunization Week

2008-04-16T05:21:00.000-07:00

National Infant Immunization Week (NIIW) is an annual observance to highlight the importance of protecting infants from vaccine-preventable diseases and celebrate the achievements of immunization programs and their partners in promoting healthy communities. Since 1994, NIIW has served as a call to action for parents, caregivers, and healthcare providers to ensure that infants are fully immunized against 14 vaccine-preventable diseases. This year NIIW will be held April 19-26, 2008.

Vaccination plays a critical role in safeguarding public health globally. During NIIW 2008, hundreds of communities across the United States will join those in the Western Hemisphere and Europe to celebrate Vaccination Week in the Americas (VWA) and European Immunization Week. Over sixty countries around the world will participate.

National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
1600 Clifton Road NE, MS E-05Atlanta, GA 30333
(800) CDC-INFO (232-4636) English/Spanish
(888) CDC-FAXX (232-3299) Free fax-back
(404) 639-8905 (Fax)
(404) 639-8561 (Phone)
cdcinfo@cdc.gov

www.cdc.gov/vaccines/events/niiw/default.htm

The Declining Rates of Breast Cancer in Recent Years are Largely Confined to Caucasians

2008-04-16T03:03:00.000-07:00

Research conducted Dr. Dezheng Huo of the University of Chicago illustrates that the sharp drop in U.S. breast cancer cases in recent years was limited to Caucasian women. The decline maybe linked to Caucasian women’s greater use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in the late 90’s than other ethnic groups. Many women terminated using hormone replacement therapy after a large study suggested in 2002 that the combination of estrogen and progestin used to treat menopause symptoms raised the risk of breast cancer and heart disease.

According to the American Cancer Society, the overall incidence of female breast cancer fell 3.9 percent a year from 2001 through 2004. The bulk of the decline has been principally among women older than 50 with estrogen-receptor positive cancer.

Rates of change in rates of breast cancer by ethnic are as follows (by the end of 2003):

Caucasians had 2.4 percent decline per quarter;
African Americans had a 0.7 percent increase per quarter;
American Indians and Alaskan Natives had 0.14 percent decline per quarter; and
Asian Americans by 0.46 percent decline per quarter.

This study offers additional evidence that HRT (estrogen therapy) influences the rates of breast cancer in women.

Less than 2% of Early-Onset Dementia is Alzheimer’s

2008-04-15T17:59:00.000-07:00

A great deal of press was generated a few years ago when The U.S. Administration on Aging highlights 2006 estimates released by the Alzheimer's Association, which indicate that between 220,000 and 640,000 American men and women currently suffer from early-onset dementia. The Alzheimer’s Association specifically defined early-onset dementia as Alzheimer’s developed at an age below 65. Many in the research community rolled their eyes as this was unlikely to be the case and was unnecessarily alarmist and not based on scientific evidence.

Dr. Brendan J. Kelley, a neurologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota has conducted a study focused exclusively on 235 patients diagnosed with a form of dementia diagnosed between the ages of 17 and 45 -- citing statistics suggesting that 12 in 100,000 people develop some form of early-onset dementia before the age of 45. The results of the study is that early onset dementia is the result of inflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis, Huntington's, lupus or HIV infection.

The study’s data indicated that approximately:

33% of the cases were classified as frontotemporal dementia
20% of the cases of dementia were resulting from autoimmune and inflammatory disorders
10% of the cases of dementia resulted from metabolic disorders
20% could not be directly attributed to any cause.

Dr. Kelley is attempting to identify markers that would offer better diagnostic methods for early-onset dementia. He rightly believes that these types of dementia may be treated by combating the underlying disease mechanism.

Regrettably, this is just further evidence that dementia research has taken a back seat to Alzheimer’s research. Of the 5,5MM so-called Alzheimer’s patients in the United States, epidemiological evidence would argue a population that includes misclassified cases of vascular dementia, pharmaceutical dementia, Lewy Body Dementia, frontotemporal dementia, as well as, depression. Complicating matters is that many patients present with overlapping and co-morbid conditions. Research indicates that only 60% have Alzheimer’s involvement and only approximately 30% of patients present with Alzheimer’s solely. The tragedy is that many misclassified patients could benefit through known clinical interventions and that much of the research that has been conducted over the last two decades does not account for the true nature of dementia in the elderly.

Breast Cancer Vaccine Shows Promise Against Deadlier Form of Disease

2008-04-13T21:13:00.000-07:00

A breast cancer vaccine in Phase II clinical testing significantly reduced reoccurrence and mortality in early stage patients with a high expression of protein HER2-neu. HER2-neu patients represent 25% of all breast cancer patients. The vaccine lowered mortality by 100 percent in women with breast cancer and low or intermediate expression of HER2/neu. Current treatments for HER2-neu expressing patients are limited to chemotherapy and surgery. Regrettably the study design was insufficiently powered to generate a statistically significant result, that is, the results maybe due to chance. Nonetheless, the vaccine is safe and well-tolerated. The vaccine is designed to stimulate the immune system to fight breast cancer. A Phase III trial is planned for 700 to 1000 patients for patients that are not eligible for Herceptin. The sponsor is Apthera. Please check with Clintrials if you would like to participate.

April is National Sarcoidosis Awareness Month

2008-04-12T05:26:00.000-07:00

National Sarcoidosis Society, Inc. and Affiliates
2525 South Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60616
(877) 763-4389
(312) 567-6626
(312) 567-6144 Fax
sarcoidosisfriends2@hotmail.com
nationalsarcoidosisfriends.org.tripod.com

THE TRUTH ABOUT CANCER PREMIERES ON PBS APRIL 16, 2008

2008-04-11T11:00:00.000-07:00

The Healing Project (THP) wishes to alert its community to the upcoming presentation of THE TRUTH ABOUT CANCER on PBS. The Healing Project was founded by a breast cancer survivor, Debra Lachance. Our Board of Directors includes scientist H. Michael Shepard, PhD who led the Herceptin discovery team at Genentech. Dr. Shepard continues to develop novel medications for treating a range of diseases including Breast Cancer as president and CSO of Receptor BioLogix. Stephanie F. Bernik, MD, FACS is a member of our Scientific Advisory Board. Dr. Bernik is Chief of Breast Surgery for the comprehensive breast program at St. Vincent's Comprehensive Cancer Center in New York City. THP is painfully aware of how far we need to go in developing treatments and cures for a range of cancers, especially metastatic cancers. Take some time and watch this film as it presents the realities of what many patients and families are confronting.

Watch a Clip.

About the Film
What is the truth about cancer? Is it the same deadly killer it was 30 years ago - or are we making progress? Find out through the poignant stories of patients battling the disease. Written, produced, and directed by award-winning filmmaker Linda Garmon, The Truth About Cancer (Web Site) premieres nationally on PBS Wednesday, April 16, at 9:00pm ET (check local listings). Comprised of a 90-minute documentary followed by a 30-minute panel discussion, the two-hour broadcast event takes a deep look inside the cancer field gauging how far we have come in this decades-old war and asking, "Why does anyone still die of cancer?"

Part science, part personal catharsis, part character-driven storytelling, The Truth About Cancer is narrated by Garmon, who tells the moving story of her husband's battle with cancer. Over the course of the film, Garmon returns to the same Boston-area hospitals at which her husband was treated, and exposes startling truths about survival rates of metastisized cancers, and the limited success of drugs and clinical trials. Interwoven throughout are the stories of three additional cancer patients, and their families and doctors, as they navigate the deeply personal decisions surrounding the disease. The documentary also follows several medical professionals working to promote screening, research the latest developments in cancer treatment, and help patients and their families live with a cancer diagnosis.

"This film makes it clear that it's very much a part of American culture to believe that if you fight hard enough, you can beat cancer. But when it comes to having metastatic cancer, your survival depends on the biology of your cancer cells, and whether they are susceptible to state-of-the-art treatment," says Garmon. "In sharing my husband's story and the stories of other patients, I hope to shed light on this important truth." The Truth About Cancer is the third installment of PBS's Take One Step—a campaign offering primetime programming and outreach tools to help people take the first step towards better health. Following the 90-minute documentary is a 30-minute panel discussion entitled Take One Step: A Conversation About Cancer with Linda Ellerbee. News journalist and breast cancer survivor Linda Ellerbee moderates the dialogue featuring a panel of doctors, all of whom are cancer survivors themselves. Having sat on both sides of a cancer diagnosis, the panel shares their unique perspectives, offering both personal and professional observations on how to handle a cancer diagnosis, what to say to loved ones, how to advocate for yourself, and how to best live your life, with cancer. Panelists include U.S. News and World Report health editor Dr. Bernadine Healy; breast cancer surgeon and Breast Cancer Research stamp mastermind Dr. Ernie Bodai; neurologist and leading palliative care expert Dr. Richard Payne; and counseling psychologist Dr. Paul Brenner.

Resources for Cancer Patients and Caregivers:

The Healing Project Resource Center

Resources for Living with and Through Cancer

The Medicated Child Premieres on PBS Frontline

2008-04-08T17:54:00.000-07:00

PBS Frontline is premiering The Medicated Child that examines the use of powerful psychiatric drugs on children. The Healing Project strongly encourages parents to judiciously use all prescription drugs, supplements and alternative therapies. The extraordinary rise in the use of very powerful unpredictable pharmaceutical compounds on children is of great concern. In many psychiatric disorders in both adults and children, psychological and behavioral interventions are often successful. Nonetheless, if these therapies fail to demonstrate results, pharmaceuticals are often the best solution. One should seek to find a board certified child psychiatrist or neurologist (preferably trained at a leading research center), depending on the nature of the malady, and have your child carefully examined before committing to a particular course of treatment.

The Medicated Child

Six million American children are taking psychiatric drugs, but most have never been tested on children. Is this good medicine – or an uncontrolled experiment?

About the Film
In recent years, there's been a dramatic increase in the number of children being diagnosed with serious psychiatric disorders and prescribed medications that are just beginning to be tested in children. The drugs can cause serious side effects, and virtually nothing is known about their long-term impact. "It's really to some extent an experiment, trying medications in these children of this age," child psychiatrist Dr. Patrick Bacon tells FRONTLINE. "It's a gamble. And I tell parents there's no way to know what's going to work." In FRONTLINE's report, The Medicated Child, producer Marcela Gaviria confronts psychiatrists, researchers and government regulators about the risks and benefits of prescription drugs for troubled children.

Watch the Full Program Online - Free
Free Parents Guide

April is Irritable Bowel Syndrome Awareness Month

2008-04-08T05:45:00.000-07:00

If you have irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), you are not alone – IBS is common with worldwide prevalence estimated at 9% to 23%. Although the condition is associated with heavy economic and social burdens, many people remain undiagnosed and unaware that their symptoms indicate a medically recognized disorder.

International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders

P.O. Box 170864
Milwaukee, WI 53217-8076
(888) 964-2001 (414) 964-1799
(414) 964-7176 Fax
iffgd@iffgd.org
http://www.aboutibs.org/
http://aboutibs.org/site/about-ibs/april-ibs-awareness-month

20 Years of Wasted Research? Beta-Amyloid Theory Called into Question, Again.

2008-04-06T05:57:00.000-07:00

Science Daily reports that University California, Irvine reports that a promising Alzheimer’s Vaccine tested in a canine succeeded in clearing beta-amyloid plaques but failed to demonstrate ecologically results of restoring memory and/or learning ability. This is no surprise.

The near religious zealotry that has surrounded beat-amyloid theory has caused the loss of many promising avenues of research over the last 20 years. If the Elan/Wyeth AD Vaccine in phase III trials demonstrates plaque reduction without ecological validity, it should not be marketed. Beta-amyloid is a surrogate marker for Alzheimer’s not the outcome (Most 50 year-olds have some plaques and tangles without exhibiting AD). Further, any drug seeking to FDA approval must demonstrate a direct benefit of increased ir stable memory and learning capacity relative to the expected decline in the disease. (In no way does the editor supports the use of the ADAS-Cog endpoint, it is flawed and borders on useless.) Also, it would be useful to measure the effect on psychiatric disorders presented by many dementia patients.

We will shortly see the results of several late-stage clinical trials that have targeted beta-amyloid, and I am not sanguine. Dementia is very complicated and Alzheimer’s disease is a subset of the space. Many patients with Alzheimer’s have other forms of dementia. Measurement is very challenging. Any approval of an agent should not rely on anything other than the patients’ cognitive performance and mental condition. The failures in dementia research are so myriad that it defies description.

In the event beta-amyloid therapies fail in humans, it is time to replace the entire leadership of Alzheimer’s research across the board from universities, foundations, not-for-profit organizations, pharmaceutical companies and government agencies. (Pharma has already starting moving its chips as its researchers are only vested in producing drugs that can be marketed.) They bet big on one theory resulting in the dismissal of alternative theories and insured that we will be set back 20 years. Not only was this ill-informed, it demonstrated an arrogance that is unsuitable in science. A younger generation of researchers have a vastly better understanding of the disease and maintain open minds. Much as Dr. Anthony Fauci has recently called for new generation to take up the mantle of developing an AIDs vaccine, it is time dementia research follow suit. The old guard is invested in proving its theory was correct so they can keep getting grants. Admit the failure and get on to solving the problem.

Caring For Your Parents Premieres Tonignt at 9 on PBS

2008-04-02T17:31:00.000-07:00

About the Special
As the population ages, many adult children are grappling with an unprecedented social, cultural, economic, and personal revolution as they transition into the primary caregiver role for their aging parents. Produced, written, and directed by award-winning filmmaker Michael Kirk, Caring for Your Parents is a moving two-hour special that draws much-needed attention to this universal reality.

The first 90-minutes of Caring for Your Parents underscores today's struggle to keep parents at home, tensions between siblings, and the complexity of shifting caregiver roles through an intimate look at five American families. In the end, the documentary contends successful caregiving requires one primary ingredient love.

Immediately after the 90-minute broadcast, medical correspondent Dr. Art Ulene leads "A Conversation About Caring." This half-hour panel discussion offers concrete advice and guidance on how to start the conversation often the most difficult step in caregiving.

Caring for Your Parents is a Kirk Documentary Group, Ltd. Production for WGBH Boston. The executive producer is Laurie Donnelly. Major funding is provided by Harrah's Foundation. Additional funding by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

A clip of Caring For Your Parents is available, and Starting April 3, 2008 the program is shown in its entirety at PBS online.

Filmmakers Lab – personal short films on Caring For Your Parents.

Free Online Handbook

Download the Enitre Handbook

Buy the Video

The Healing Project is please to Annouce the Release of Voices of Alcoholism

2008-03-31T14:27:00.000-07:00

New Anthology “Voices of Alcoholism” Gives Voice to Silent Disease
-- Alcoholism Knows No Boundaries… Impacting All Races, Sexes and Ages--

Approximately 14 million Americans meet the diagnostic criteria for alcohol abuse or alcoholism and more than half of American adults have a close family member who has or has had alcoholism, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Twenty-five percent of children (under the age of 18) are exposed to alcohol abuse or alcohol dependence in the family. However, the social stigma associated with this nation-wide epidemic often prevents victims and their families from seeking help or speaking out. Voices of Alcoholism: The Healing Companion: Stories for Courage, Comfort and Strength is an opportunity to bring recognition to this disease and honoring all of those who have survived it.

Author Donna Veneto, a college senior and author of “Daddy Hyde” in Voices of Alcoholism captures this sentiment, “The Secret was ours to keep and hide from the world. I was terrified that my friends would learn that my father had a drinking problem. (Little did I know that they, and the entire neighborhood, knew as much).”

Alcoholism Knows No Boundaries
· Children who parents abuse alcohol or drugs are three times more likely to be verbally, physically or sexually abused.
- I Really Am Special is a woman’s childhood account of life with her alcoholic father and the physical, mental and sexual abuse she suffered at his hands.

· The highest growing number of alcoholics is among 75 year old widowers, according to the American Medical Association.
- Two Mothers demonstrates how retirement ended the line for one woman’s mother; who only drank at night.
--more--Although drinking by persons under the age of 21 is illegal, people aged 12-20 years drink almost 20 percent of all alcohol consumed in the U.S.
- A Mother’s Journal chronicles one woman’s vigilance and helplessness as she watches her son’s downward spiral from innocent experimentation, to arrest and rehab.

The publication of this anthology includes more than 40 stories of parents, spouses, children and loved ones impacted by alcoholism. These tales of courage, strength and compassion offer insight into the challenges of facing addiction, as well as the shame and isolation experienced by victims of alcoholism.

LaChance Publishing is donating 100% of profits to LaChance’s other entrepreneurial venture The Healing Project (http://www.thehealingproject.org/), a non-profit organization dedicated to the education and support of those living with life-threatening and chronic illnesses. LaChance is also a Senior Vice-President at The Corcoran Group, a major real estate company in New York City.

Voices of Alcoholism and all of the "Voices Of" books are available at bookstores everywhere and online at The Healing Project website http://www.thehealingproject.org/.

April 2nd is World Autism Day

2008-03-30T05:18:00.000-07:00

Three documentaries have been produced that offer insight into Autism - "Autism Every Day," "Autism: The Musical" and "Her Name Is Sabine." Each attempts to broaden the public's understanding of the condition.

HBO Premiered Autism: The Musical on Tuesday March 25th at 8PM and runs throughout the month of April.

A Clip from The Film:

About the Documentary

AUTISM: THE MUSICAL follows the extraordinary acting coach Elaine Hall, five children with autism, and their parents as they heroically mount a full-length original stage production. Through trial and error, tears and laughter, these incredible families learn to communicate their feelings in song and performance, finding solace and joy in the act of creating.

A veritable feast of astounding breakthroughs, this spellbinding film offers a full-throated celebration of kids living with an increasingly prevalent disorder. Director Tricia Regan vividly captures the individual personalities and problems of each child, from precocious Henry who talks a mile-a-minute about dinosaurs, to Neal, a sensitive and articulate boy who nonetheless struggles to speak at all. The parents, too, are fascinating studies in unconditional love, especially Elaine, the mastermind behind the musical and mother of Neal.

A consciousness-raising and empathetic portrait of children and their families living with autism, AUTISM: THE MUSICAL celebrates the spark of humanity in each of us. "Moving, dramatic, therapeutic and unburdened by reliance on talking heads" (Variety), this film will change the way you look at autism.

If you don't have HBO or would prefer to watch AUTISM: The Musical online in its entirety, please visit HBO Documentaries. HBO offers it online free of charge.

About Autism Everyday

The 44 minute documentary premieres on the Sundance Channel on April 2nd.

Autism Everyday

A raw, sometimes harrowing look at 24 hours in the lives of eight families with autistic children, "Autism Every Day" was initially produced to be shown at a benefit for Autism Speaks, the charity founded by Wright and his wife, Suzanne, after their grandson was diagnosed. But after the film "went viral" on YouTube, Thierry expanded it from seven minutes to 44 and submitted it to the Sundance Film Festival, where it was shown last year. It will air on Sundance Channel on April 2, which the United Nations has designated World Autism Awareness Day.

Crosscutting among its unnamed subjects (including the Wrights' daughter Katie), "Autism Every Day" creates a composite picture of the pressures of raising an autistic child. Parents describe children for whom the most basic of bodily functions are arduous tasks, who lash out violently and bite their own limbs. Alison Singer, Autism Speaks' vice president of communications, describes being so distraught at the prospect of placing her daughter in an overcrowded special-needs school that she contemplated driving them both off a bridge.

"Autism Every Day" has drawn criticism for presenting an overly negative view. But Thierry says that diluting the financial and emotional strain that raising a child with autism can place on a family would have contradicted her own experience. "I had a mandate," she says. "Tell it like it is."

A clip of Autism Every Day can be found on Youtube.

For more information about Autism Every Day and AutismSpeaks Channel on Youtube.

About: Her name is Sabine

Synopsis:

An intelligent, moving and beautiful portrait of Sabine, a 38-year-old autistic woman, filmed by her sister, the famous French actress Sandrine Bonnaire. Through personal footage filmed over a period of 25 years, it is revealed that Sabine's growth and many talents were crushed by improper diagnosis and an inadequate care structure. After a tragic five-year stay in a psychiatric hospital, Sabine finally finds a new lease on life in a home together with other young people living with similar mental and emotional illnesses. This very intimate film also sends an urgent message to a society that still does not know how to properly take care of its citizens with physical and psychological disabilities.

Her name is Sabine is available at Amazon.

April is National Autism Awareness Month

2008-03-29T05:39:00.000-07:00

National Autism Awareness Month
Autism Society of America

7910 Woodmont Avenue, Suite 300
Bethesda, MD 20814-3067
(800) 3–AUTISM (328-8476)
(301) 657-0881
(301) 657-0869 Fax
mcolston@autism-society.org
http://www.autism-society.org/

Also, in June, The Healing Project will be releasing "Voices of Autism" a collection of stories written by those touched by Alzheimer's.

Voices of Autism may be reserved for purchase at Amazon, now.

April is Alcoholism Awareness Month

2008-03-28T05:48:00.000-07:00

Alcoholism directly afflicts more than 20MM people in the United States. It is the most common type of substance abuse and almost certainly touches someone in your life.

Alcoholism Awareness Month

SAMHSA's National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information
P.O. Box 2345
Rockville, MD 20015
(800) 729-6686
(877) 787-8432 Spanish (240) 221-4017
(240) 221-4292 (Fax)
NCADI-info@samhsa.hhs.gov
ncadi.samhsa.gov

The Healing Project is releasing Voices of Alcoholism on April 1st. It is an anthology of stories of people touched by Alcoholism.

Voices of Alcoholism can be purchased at Amazon, now.

April is National Donate a Life Month

2008-03-27T05:33:00.000-07:00

The Healing Project strongly encourages fully participating in organ, tissue and cellular donation. The shortage of organs is pronounced particularly in minority communities.

While public policy has been sorely lacking in this area for decades, it takes little time to check a box on your driver’s license to donate. Remember this is the gift of life and you can’t take it with you.

National Donate Life MonthDivision of Transplantation, Healthcare Systems Bureau
Health Resources and Services Administration
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Parklawn Building, Room 12C-05
5600 Fishers Lane
Rockville, MD 20857
(301) 443-7577
(301) 594-6095 Fax
ask@hrsa.gov
http://www.organdonor.gov/