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Greetings!
 "Stepping Out to Cure Scleroderma" Walks Are Coming Up!
This year you can touch the lives of family, friends, co-workers, and everyone who lives with scleroderma by participating in one of our "Stepping Out to Cure Scleroderma" nationwide walks. In 2009, our walks raised $1.262 million. By walking you'll support the Scleroderma Foundation and the hundreds of thousands of adults and children who cope with this disease every day.
Find a walk near you! |
| Scleroderma Family Registry & DNA Repository: Critical Need for Control Samples |
Maureen Mayes, M.D., M.P.H., Principal Investigator at the Scleroderma Family Registry and DNA Repository  |
The Registry needs individuals diagnosed with systemic forms of scleroderma. AND, they are in desperate need of CONTROLS (people who do not have scleroderma).
Call Marilyn Perry, Registry Coordinator, at
800-736-6864 or locally at 713-500-7196, and she will mail you a collection bottle. They are collecting spit samples. There is no need for your blood to be drawn, nor is there a need for you to visit your doctor. Follow the directions on the package you receive in the mail, collect your sample, put it in the postage-paid return mailing envelope provided, and drop it in the mail. It's that easy! Learn more. |
| Scleroderma Foundation Attends the American College of Physicians Conference |
From the Scleroderma Foundation: Lindsey Bergman, Executive Assistant; Kerri Connolly, Programs & Services Manager; and Tracey O. Sperry, Director of Development & Research |
The Scleroderma Foundation hosted an exhibit table on scleroderma at the 2010 American College of Physician's (ACP) Annual Conference April 7-9th. Tracey Sperry, Director of Development and Research, Kerri Connolly, Programs and Services Manager, and Lindsey Bergman, Executive Assistant, spoke with thousands of physicians about scleroderma and provided educational and informational materials to attendees. ACP's meeting is the largest continuing education event for internists and related subspecialists. It includes more than 260 workshops, lectures, panel discussions, and demonstrations for doctors of internal medicine ("Doctors for Adults™"), who are major providers of primary care to adults. "The annual ACP conference is a great opportunity for the Scleroderma Foundation to engage primary care physicians and other attendees in discussions about scleroderma," notes Connolly. "Each year, we find more individuals who are not only aware, but interested in learning more about the disease."
Indeed, the Foundation recognizes the importance of educating all members of the medical community about scleroderma. The Foundation's ECHO campaign, launched in the fall of 2008, is just one of the Foundation's educational initiatives targeted at informing the medical community about pulmonary hypertension and scleroderma. http://www.echossc.org/. Overall, the ACP meeting provided a useful forum for the Foundation to educate physicians and other medical professionals nationwide about scleroderma. |
| Laughter Can Stimulate a Dull Appetite |  Finding could help the elderly or sick who lose interest in food, researchers say
MONDAY, April 26 (HealthDay News) -- Laughing can boost the appetite in the same way that exercise does, a finding that could help people eat more when they're sick or depressed, a researcher says. Learn more.
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| Ask the Expert: Raynaud's Phenomenon |
Frederick Wrigley, M.D., a member of SF's Medical Advisory Board | "While it's normal to feel cold when you step outside on a winter's day without a jacket, the feeling of cold comes way too easily for sufferers of Raynaud's," writes Winnie Yu in The Times Health Guide: "When Cold Fingers Mean Raynaud's, or Worse." "Holding a cup of yogurt, strolling through the freezer section of the supermarket, even touching a glass of water can turn fingers a mottled mix of white and blue and create chills normally reserved for the iciest exposures." And while Raynaud's is just a minor nuisance for the great majority of sufferers, for a small majority, coldness in the fingers and toes is a prelude to a more serious ailment like lupus or scleroderma.
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| "Other Manifestations of Systemic Sclerosis" and "Scleroderma and Cancer" Newest Workshops Added | 
"Other Manifestations of Systemic Sclerosis," with Janet Pope, M.D. Learn more.
"Scleroderma and Cancer," with Thomas A. Medsger, Jr., M.D. Learn more. |
| "Why I Am Attending the Conference" |
 "Kids, you should go to the Conference for many different reasons. One being that it is a fun way to meet other kids who have the disease. It can help you feel like you're not alone. Also, you can learn what exactly is happening with other kids near or far. Not only would you learn and meet other kids, but you could also have fun in certain workshops like the "Ice Cream Social," where we make ice cream sundaes and play games together. So, I hope to see all you kids there!" - Samantha Murray, Scleroderma Foundation Youth Ambassador |
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine Facts-at-a-Glance |
The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) is the Federal Government's lead agency for scientific research on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). We are 1 of the 27 institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health (NIH) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Learn more. |
| What Is Dry Mouth (Xerostomia)? What Causes Dry Mouth? |
 Xerostomia is a medical term used for dry mouth due to lack of saliva - there is not enough saliva to keep the mouth wet; there is reduced or absent saliva flow. It is also informally known as pasties, cottonmouth, drooth, doughmouth or des (from desert). It is usually a subjective complaint - the patient complains about it and subsequently sees the doctor. Learn more. |
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