Scleroderma Foundation

In This Issue

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Helps Heal Wounds

Tumor Suppressor Could Someday Regulate Fibrotic Diseases

Social Security's Economic Stimulus One-Time Payments Information Page

Immune System Flexibility Identified in Helper T Cell Function

Nutrition Ideas for Stress Reduction

Innovative Approach to Identify and Treat Lung Fibrosis

Photo of the Week
Charlotte Berkner, SW Albany Support Group Leader
Charlotte Berkner,
SW Albany Support Group Leader, is honored at Tri-State's Support Group Leader Weekend

Spring Swing 2009

DEADLINE TO ENTER: MARCH 15

Register today for the Spring Swing Women's Doubles Tennis Tournament at the fabulous, AAA Four Diamond PGA National Resort & Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, March 21.

More...

Stepping Out to Cure Scleroderma Walks Gearing Up

Find a walk near you!

Commemorative Stamp for Scleroderma

The Scleroderma Foundation is pursuing a commemorative stamp for scleroderma.
We need your help!

Scleroderma Foundation eLetter

Friday, February 20, 2009– Issue #284

eLetter Archive

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Helps Heal WoundsDr. Louis Cappa, DPM

Dr. Louis R. Cappa, DPM, is the medical director of St. Luke's Cornwall Hospital's Center for Wound Healing and Hyperbaric Medicine. The medical pavilion on the hospital's Cornwall campus is the only site in Orange, Ulster or Sullivan counties where hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is available. This therapy has shown great success in healing chronic wounds, including those in which the infection has gone to the bone or an entire extremity that's been crushed in an accident. In response to community need, a fourth hyperbaric chamber will be added early in 2009.

Tumor Suppressor Could Someday Regulate Fibrotic Diseases

Newswise — A new study finds a cellular signaling pathway that could be responsible for some connective tissue diseases such as scleroderma. The study also suggests a new function for tumor suppressors in combating fibrotic diseases.

Social Security's Economic Stimulus One-Time PaymentsSocial Security Administration Information Page

President Obama recently signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.  This act provides for the one-time payment of $250 to individuals who get Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security benefits.

Immune System Flexibility Identified in Helper T Cell National Institutes of HealthFunction

Scientists from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have discovered a new explanation for the flexibility of responses of one type of immune system cell, called T lymphocytes, using a new genome sequencing technology that surveys the cells' epigenomes. The epigenome is the heritable cellular information, other than DNA, which affects phenotype. Their work has generated the largest blueprint of its kind for studying the biology of these cells, and provides new clues about the epigenetic regulation of key immune genes — clues that could one day be used to treat diseases, particularly autoimmune and infectious diseases.

For more information on epigenomes, see Nova scienceNOW from PBS.

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Nutrition Ideas for Stress Reduction

Stress depletes the body of energy in a variety of ways. Loss of sleep, feelings of agitation or depression, and development of poor eating habits are “side effects” of stress that need intervention. Some stress can help us rise to the occasion and get things done, but too much stress drains the body. One way to break the stress cycle is by changing the diet to one that can actually help reduce stress.

Innovative Approach to Identify and Treat Lung Fibrosis

Vials filled with liquidScientists at San Francisco-based KineMed, Inc., describe a new way to measure changes in the rates of deposition and breakdown of connective tissue applicable in animals and man. The methods described fill a critical need for better approaches to enable the discovery and development of drugs to treat a range of life-threatening diseases in which excessive deposition of collagen leading to organ dysfunction (fibrosis) plays a key role. Such advances can facilitate clinical trials for better treatments for such conditions as scleroderma, cirrhosis, pulmonary fibrosis and chronic transplant rejection.

Upcoming Events

Feb. 21 (Sat.) Talking About Health WEZE 590 AM (Quincy, Mass.)
March 6 (Fri.) 2nd Annual "Swing for a Cure" Golf Tournament (Boynton Beach, Fl.)
March 14 (Sat.) "A Morning with Dr Maureen Mayes" (Odessa, TX.)
March 14 (Sat.) 8th Annual Cheri Woo Scleroderma Education Seminar (Portland, OR.)
Complete SF Calendar

Scleroderma Foundation, 300 Rosewood Drive, Suite 105, Danvers, MA 01923
Phone 978-463-5843 · 800-722-HOPE (4673)

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