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Greetings!
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Only Three Weeks for Early Bird Pricing
 There's only three weeks left to secure early bird pricing for the National Patient Education Conference. Be sure to register for the conference by 11:59 p.m (EST) Friday, June 29. Early bird ticket prices are $195 for members and $245 for non-members. The price increases by $50 after June 29. So don't delay, register today! Also, be sure to secure your room for this year's conference before the room block runs out! Use the group code A-SDF12 when you make your reservation. Book your room online or by calling (866) 782-7897. We look forward to seeing you in Dallas! Read more about the conference below or visit our website. The actual per person cost of hosting the conference is more than $600. We would like to thank our corporate sponsors and donors for helping to reduce the cost for participants.
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Digital Ulcer Registry Established in Europe
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 About 50 percent of all patients with scleroderma are affected by digital ulcers, a frequent physical manifestation of the disease. Digital ulcers often times are persistent wounds that are slow to heal and difficult to manage. They can lead to severe complications such as tissue loss, infection, gangrene, amputation and septicemia, according to Christopher Denton, Ph.D., director of the Center for Rheumatology at University College London.
Dr. Denton and his colleagues have established the Digital Ulcers Outcome Registry in Europe. This multicenter registry includes data for more than 2,500 scleroderma patients with ongoing digital ulcers.
Read more about this registry from "Skin and Allergy News."
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Doctors' Tips to Help You Exercise
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 If you have scleroderma, arthritis, fibromyalgia or other illnesses, exercise may be difficult for you because of fatigue, sore joints or trouble breathing.
Some top doctors offer their advice for how to help increase your physical activity in this article from Lifescript.
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8 Ways to Help You Take Your Meds
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Nearly 75 percent of Americans don't take their medications as prescribed by their doctors. This causes nearly 125,000 deaths each year and leads to unnecessary hospital admission.
"Today's Caregiver" offers eight ways to help you manage your medications and adhere to instructions given by your doctor.
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More Workshops Announced
National Patient Education Conference
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We have added more workshop descriptions for you. Take a look at some of this year's conference offerings:
 The following two workshops will be led by Ginny Maril, M.Psy.: Caregiving: Caring for Yourself While Caring for Another: Caregivers of people living with scleroderma have a unique set of challenges. Just because caregivers are not the "sick one" does not mean they do not also live with the disease. This session focuses on the effects scleroderma may have on loved ones who support scleroderma patients. Learn about risks and what can be done to stay healthy while caring for another. Though the focus of this session is on caregivers, patients interested in learning more about the caregiver's perspective are absolutely welcome.
Understanding the Psychological Effects of Scleroderma: People living with scleroderma know that its effects are not solely physical. This session will look at some of the obvious and not-so-obvious effects that living with scleroderma may have on your emotions, behavior, relationships, and general mental health. Strategies for coping with these effects will be addressed.
 Scleroderma: Is It Nature or Nurture? The session will include a description of potential environmental factors linked to scleroderma or scleroderma-like illnesses as well as the influence of an individual's genetic background on the development of scleroderma. Information will be based on scientific research and a study of twins with scleroderma. Presented by: Carol Feghali-Bostwick, Ph.D.
Register for this year's conference in Dallas July 27-29. You also can view other workshop descriptions, learn about the hotel and more on our website. Remember, the early bird registration deadline is Friday, June 29!
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Disclaimer: The Scleroderma Foundation in no way endorses any drugs or treatments reported in the eLetter. Information is provided to keep readers informed. Because the manifestations and severity of scleroderma vary among individuals, personal medical management is essential. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that all drugs and treatments be discussed with the reader's physician(s) for proper evaluation and treatment.
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