Updates for You on GI Involvement

Scleroderma Foundation eLetter

eLetter #391

Greetings!

SSA Compassionate Allowances Hearing

Social Security Administration will hold a Compassionate Allowances Outreach Hearing on Autoimmune Diseases next week. The hearing will take place 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, March 16, in Baltimore, Md.

Compassionate Allowances are a way to quickly identify individuals with diseases and other medical conditions that clearly qualify for Social Security and Supplemental Security Income disability benefits. The initiative allows the agency to target and expedite the decision-making process for the most obviously disabled individuals.

Next week's hearing focuses on autoimmune diseases, including lupus, scleroderma, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and vasculitis. Witnesses will include:

Virginia Ladd, President, American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association

Sandra Raymond, President and CEO, Lupus Foundation of America

Virginia Steen, M.D. Professor of Medicine, Rheumatology, Immunology, and Allergy, Georgetown University

John Booss, M.D., Neurologist, National Multiple Sclerosis Society

Arthur Weinstein, M.D., Associate Chairman, Department of Medicine, Director, Division of Rheumatology, Washington Hospital Center

Philip Seo, M.D., Co-Director, Johns Hopkins Vasculitis Center, Johns Hopkins Hospital

Penelope Fletcher, President, Lupus Foundation of America, DC/MD/VA Chapter

The Compassionate Allowances Outreach Hearing will be held at the International Ballroom of the Sheraton Baltimore City Center Hotel, 101 W. Fayette St., in Baltimore.

If you are able to attend and would like to share your story about scleroderma as part of the hearing's testimony, please contact James Edrington at james.edrington@ssa.gov or (410) 966-2153 by noon Monday, March 14.

Learn more about Compassionate Allowances and how Social Security determines if you are disabled.

Liver Warning Removed from Letairis^®Label

Gilead Sciences, Inc. announced this week that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a change to the prescribing information for Letairis^®. The change to the boxed warning removes language concerning the potential risk of liver injury. Letairis is a once-daily treatment to improve exercise ability and delay clinical worsening in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). PAH patients who take Letairis no longer will be required to have monthly liver function tests.

Download a PDF version of the full press release from Gilead Sciences.

Want to know more about Letairis? Read the online patient medication guide about the drug.

Updated Information on GI Involvement

Dinesh Khanna, MD, MSc, has updated his article on digestive system involvement in scleroderma. View the report on our Web site now.

The revised report includes information about medications and a link to UCLA's GI Involvement Questionnaire.

Dr. Khanna is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Rheumatology at the University of California, Los Angeles.

[Video] Systemic Sclerosis in Kids

Check out this video of pediatric rheumatologist Dr. Kathryn Torok of Children's Hospital Pittsburgh. She discusses systemic sclerosis in children. For more information, visit www.chp.edu/rheumatology.

10 Ways to Maintain a Positive Attitude

By Helen Hunter, ACSW, LSW, GCM

Learn healthy ways to manage your stress
Think of challenges as opportunities to shine
Look for the best in others and yourself
Eat right and get plenty of rest
Exercise for 30 minutes or more on most days of the week

Read the rest of the list from TodaysCaregiver.com.

28 Tips for Nighttime Heartburn Relief

WebMD Logo Millions of people have heartburn and the more serious condition gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) daily. And research shows that nighttime heartburn affects nearly four out of five of heartburn sufferers - disturbing sleep and impairing a person's ability to function the next day.