Health observances in May
May 1, 2009 by Raquel Billiones
Filed under HEALTHCARE
Once again, I bring you a list of health observances for the month of May.
May is…
American Stroke Month
American Heart Association
www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3026377
Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month
Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America
Better Hearing and Speech Month
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
http://www.asha.org/bhsm/
Better Sleep Month
Better Sleep Council
http://www.bettersleep.org/
Clean Air Month
American Lung Association
www.lungusa.org/
Healthy Vision Month
National Eye Institute
National Institutes of Health
http://www.healthyvision2010.nei.nih.gov/hvm/
Theme: Uncorrected Refractive Errors
Hepatitis Awareness Month
Hepatitis Foundation International
http://www.hepatitisfoundation.org/
Lupus Awareness Month
Lupus Foundation of America, Inc.
http://www.lupus.org
Lyme Disease Awareness Month
Lyme Disease Foundation
www.lyme.org
Melanoma/Skin Cancer Detection and Prevention Month
American Academy of Dermatology
www.aad.org
Mental Health Month
Mental Health America
www.mentalhealthamerica.net/go/may
National Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Awareness Month
Les Turner Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Foundation
www.lesturnerals.org
National Arthritis Awareness Month
Arthritis Foundation
www.arthritis.org
National Bike Month
League of American Bicyclists
www.bikeleague.org/programs/bikemonth
National Cancer Research Month
American Association for Cancer Research
www.aacr.org/home/public–media/public-policy–legislative-affairs/national-cancer-research-month.aspx
National Celiac Disease Awareness Month
American Celiac Disease Alliance
americanceliac.org
National High Blood Pressure Education Month
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Health Information Center
www.nhlbi.nih.gov
National Neurofibromatosis Month
Children’s Tumor Foundation
www.ctf.org
National Osteoporosis Awareness and Prevention Month
National Osteoporosis Foundation
www.nof.org/awareness2/annual.htm
National Physical Fitness and Sports Month
President´s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports
www.fitness.gov
National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month
Advocates for Youth
www.advocatesforyouth.org/publications/ntppm.htm
National Toxic Encephalopathy and Chemical Injury Awareness Month
National Toxic Encephalopathy Foundation
www.NTEF-USA.Org
Older Americans Month
U.S. Administration on Aging
www.aoa.gov
Sturge-Weber Awareness Month
The Sturge-Weber Foundation
www.sturge-weber.org
Tuberous Sclerosis Awareness Month
Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance
www.tsalliance.org
Ultraviolet Awareness Month
Prevent Blindness America
www.preventblindness.org
Week-long observances
3 to 9 May
North American Occupational Safety and Health Week
American Society of Safety Engineers
www.asse.org/newsroom/naosh09
6 to 12 May
National Mental Health Counseling Week
American Mental Health Counselors Association
www.amhca.org
10 to 16 May
Food Allergy Awareness Week
Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network
www.foodallergy.org/FAAW/index.html
10 to 16 May
National Alcohol- and Other Drug-Related Birth Defects Week
National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc.
www.ncadd.org
10 to 16 May
National Women’s Health Week
Office on Women’s Health
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
11 to 17 May
National Stuttering Awareness Week
Stuttering Foundation of America
11 to 15 May
National Neuropathy Week
The Neuropathy Association
www.neuropathy.org
18 to 24 May
Recreational Water Illness Prevention Week
Water and Environment Activity
Parasitic Diseases Branch
Division of Parasitic Diseases
National Center for Zoonotic, Vector-Borne, and Enteric Diseases
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
www.cdc.gov/healthyswimming/rwi_prevention_week.htm
24 to 30 May
Older American’s Mental Health Week
Older Women’s League
www.owl-national.org/Welcome.html
One-day observances
4 May
Melanoma Monday
American Academy of Dermatology
www.aad.org
4 May
Asthma Educator’s Day
www.asthmaeducators.org
5 May
World Asthma Day
http://www.ginasthma.com/WADIndex.asp
9 May
Cornelia de Lange Syndrome Awareness Day
CdLS-USA Foundation
www.cdlsusa.org
11 May
National Women’s Check-up Day
Office on Women’s Health
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
www.womenshealth.gov/whw/about/checkupday.cfm
12 May
Sex Differences in Health Awareness Day
Society for Women’s Health Research
www.womenshealthresearch.org
18 May
HIV Vaccine Awareness Day
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health
HIV Vaccine Communications Campaign
Vaccine and Prevention Research Program, Division of AIDS
www.niaid.nih.gov/news/events/HVAD
19 May
Phelan-McDermid Syndrome Day
Greenwood Genetic Center
www.22q13.org
20 May
National Employee Health and Fitness Day
National Association for Health and Fitness
physicalfitness.org/nehf.html
31 May
World No Tobacco Day
Pan American Health Organization
WHO Regional Office for the Americas
www.who.int/tobacco/wntd/en/
Photo credit: stock.xchng
Multiple Sclerosis Drug Combined with Lipitor May Stop or Reverse Disease - Dosages Cut in Half with Fewer Negative Side Effects
March 22, 2006 by HART 1-800-HART
Filed under MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS
March 16th 2006
Combining treatments may improve outcomes for patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), according to research done on mice and published online by the Journal of Clinical Investigation. Scott S. Zamvil and colleagues at the University of California, San Francisco found that mice treated with a combination of Glatiramer acetate (GA) and atorvastatin (Lipitor) demonstrated “a significant prevention and reversal of clinical MS severity” of MS symptoms.
Lipitor is a cholesterol lowering drug that has previously been shown to improve MS symptoms. Glatiramer acetate (Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.’s Copaxone) is a drug currently approved for MS treatment. The researchers found that treating MS with combinations of immune modulating drugs can greatly reduce MS disease.
According to the researchers, treating EAE (experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis) mice with the combination therapy caused the animals to lose less myelin, prevented CNS inflammation, and MS disease incidence.
The researchers then treated isolated inflammatory cells called macrophages with these drugs and found that the combination therapy mediated its effects by promoting the secretion of the anti-inflammatory molecule IL-10 and suppressed production of the proinflammatory molecules IL-12 and TNF-alpha.
The researchers believe that the combined delivery of drugs, which act through different mechanisms, may enhance the therapeutic efficacy of MS and reduce the negative side effects. Also the drug dosages were less than the dosages used in regular single drug treatments.
Copaxone has been shown to be 30 to 35 percent effective alone. According to Bloomberg News, all MS drugs have to be injected, and have “severe side effects”. None of the MS drugs are very potent.
Lipitor on the other hand can be taken orally and is considered relatively safe. Lipitor, the best selling drug in the world, appears to block production of immune system agents, called cytokines, involved in the disease process. Currently the University of California, San Francisco is looking for 152 patients at 14 hospitals to participate in clinical trials. These trials will investigate the effect Lipitor alone has on MS. Contact the office of Scott Zamvil, associate professor of neurology at University of California, San Francisco, for more information.
There are 400,000 MS sufferers in the US. The illness causes neurological symptoms that include loss of motor control, blindness and temporary recurring paralysis. The condition occur when the body’s natural defenses are over stimulated and begin stripping the protective insulation, called myelin, from nerve fibers in the central nervous system, which includes the brain, optic nerves and spinal cord.
Dan Wilson
Best Syndication
Copyright 2005 Best Syndication
Last Updated Thursday, March 16, 2006 06:07 PM
