Lupus Awareness Bracelet with Custom made Lampwork Beads and Hill Tribe Sterling Butterflies by RocknBauble
This piece is sure to get you noticed. The specially designed lampwork beads in lavender with purple swirls, dots and matching spacers were custom made for this piece. Matching butterflies, and a beautiful heart shaped toggle clasp. Added for a little extra flare are a sterling silver awareness ribbon and a sterling butterfly charm. Strung on quality wire with the added protection of wire guards to help protect against wire fray. Crimped with tornado crimp beads to give you the added security against breakage at the crimp site. Measures 8 1/2 inches in length and is 11 mm at its widest point. A larger size for sure, but not everyone is a size small. Comes with a custom designed gift box and 10% of proceeds will be Other causes that use the purple ribbon include: Alzheimer’s Disease, Animal Abuse, Cancer Survivors, Crohn’s Awareness:(alt-blue), Colitis Awareness, Cystic Fibrosis, Domestic Violence, Fibromyalgia, Leimyosarcoma, Lupus Awareness, Macular Degeneration, PancreaticCancer, Sarcoidosis |
Posts Tagged ‘lupus’
Lupus Awareness Bracelet with Designer Lampwork Beads
Friday, July 9th, 2010Support of Lupus Awareness Month
Wednesday, May 26th, 2010RocknBauble.etsy.com announces Support of Lupus Awareness Month
RocknBauble.etsy.com announces its Support of Lupus Awareness Month with a Donation of 10 Percent of the Proceeds from the Sale of its Lupus Awareness Jewelry.
Lupus Awareness Month is May and one of several observances promoted by the Lupus Foundation of America. RocknBauble.etsy.com announces it will support Lupus Awareness Month by donating 10 percent of the proceeds from the sale of its Lupus Awareness Jewelry line. Custom Lupus Awareness bracelets, necklaces, earrings and book thongs are being offered through the RocknBauble storefront located on the ETSY website (www.RocknBauble.Etsy.com) “I am excited to assist this cause with creating custom Lupus Awareness Jewelry and donating part of the proceeds to help support Lupus Research, ” said Andi (Lupus Jewelry Artist). Jewelry for all awareness colors and causes is available with a percentage of the proceeds to be given to the cause the particular piece represents and we will place an emphasis on Lupus this month.
About Lupus Awareness Month:
Lupus Awareness Month is one of several observances promoted by the Lupus Foundation of America (www.lupus.org) to increase visibility for lupus. The LFA and its chapters designated May as Lupus Awareness Month to incorporate other related events into the observance. The Lupus Foundation of America estimates that 1,500,000 Americans have a form lupus. This estimate is based on two nationwide polls, which asked respondents if they, or anyone in their immediate household, had ever been diagnosed with lupus. In addition, another poll revealed that 28% of all Americans know someone with lupus. Lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease that, for unknown reasons, causes inflammation and tissue damage to virtually any of the body’s own cells, tissue, and organs – especially the skin, joints, blood, heart, lungs, kidneys, and brain.
About RocknBauble:
RocknBauble.com owner and jewelry artist Andi Vogel states, “As a nurse I like to heighten the publics awareness of Lupus and all other awareness causes, donations from my awareness jewelry adds support to these causes.” Andi fashions her awareness jewelry by hand and meticulously selects all materials so each piece is unique. Butterflies, Baubles, Stars, Lampwork Beads, Furnace Glass, Czech Republic Crystals, Swarovski Crystals, Fresh-water Pearls, Sterling Charms, Hearts and Puzzle pieces are used in this high quality jewelry, as well as some highly desirable variations and more unusual settings most of which are hand crafted by local and international artisans. Andi’s flair for style and eye for color shines through in every awareness creation.
Visit her storefront at www.RocknBauble.etsy.com
Home Page is here www.RocknBauble.com
Lupus Alliance of America
Friday, March 26th, 2010The Lupus Alliance of America is working to build a brighter future for all lupus patients and their families.
from their “about us” page:
The Lupus Alliance of America is a group of agencies that have come together for the express purpose of providing needed services to those affected by lupus within their local communities. Our mission is “To ensure the delivery of services to those affected by lupus through affiliate members and other agencies and to fund research efforts.”
The Lupus Alliance of America serves to support those individuals, organizations and agencies that are involved in research to find a cure for lupus or to improve treatment of the disease. This support includes providing money for such research and the dissemination of information that will help to advance those efforts.
The Lupus Alliance of America:
- Promotes programs of public awareness and education about lupus.
- Promotes, through affiliates of the corporation, patient education programs and services for those affected by lupus.
- Works with health professionals to improve the standards of diagnosis, care, services and treatment of those suffering from lupus.
- Serves as an advocate for those affected by lupus.
- Supports research into the causes, treatment and cure of lupus.
from their affiliates list page:
The Lupus Alliance of America and the Affiliates listed below are working to build a brighter future for all lupus patients and their families.
Lupus Alliance of America
3871 Harlem Rd.
Buffalo, NY 14215
Phone: 1 (866) 415-8787
Fax: 1 (716) 835-7251
E-mail: info@lupusalliance.org
Web: http://www.lupusalliance.org
Lupus Alliance of America Affiliates:
Hudson Valley Affiliate
100 South Bedford Road
Suite 340
Mt. Kisco, NY 10549
Click here for map
Phone: 1 (800) 850-9000
Fax: 1 (516) 826-2058
Info: lupusalliancehv@aol.com
Web: http://www.lupushudsonvalley.org
Long Island/Queens Affiliate
2255 Centre Ave
Bellmore, NY 11710
Click here for map
Phone: 1 (800) 850-9000
Fax: 1 (516) 826-2058
General E-Mail: info@lupusliqueens.org
Walk-Along for Lupus: lupuswalkny@aol.com
Web: http://www.lupusliqueens.org
Michigan Indiana Affiliate
26507 Harper Avenue
St. Clair Shores, MI 48081
Click here for map
Phone: 1 (800) 705-6677
Fax: 1 (586) 775-8494
Customer Service: info@milupus.org
Other Information:
Web: http://www.milupus.org
New York Southern Tier Affiliate
1115 Front Street
Binghamton, NY 13905
Click here for map
Phone: 1 (800) 33-LUPUS
Fax: 1 (607) 772-6567
Info: lupusnyst@stny.rr.com
Web: http://southerntier.lupusalliance.org
Upstate New York Affiliate
3871 Harlem Rd
Cheektowaga, NY 14215
Click here for map
Phone: 1 (800) 300-4198
Fax: 1 (716) 835-7251
General E-mail: info@lupusupstateny.org
Web: http://www.lupusupstateny.org
Psychotherapy May Help People With Lupus
Thursday, March 11th, 2010Psychotherapy May Help People With Lupus Cope with Stress
Psychotherapy helps cut the incidence of psychological woes in patients with lupus who have high levels of daily stress, a new study finds. The treatment also helps these patients improve and maintain their quality of life, according to a new Spanish study. The research included 45 patients randomly assigned to a control group or to a therapy group. Each received 10 weekly sessions of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). By the end of the study, the patients in the therapy group had significantly reduced levels of depression, anxiety and daily stress — along with significant improvement in quality of life — compared to those in the control group.
However, the patients in the therapy group didn’t show any significant reduction in lupus disease activity, said the Spanish researchers. The study was led by N. Navarrete-Navarrete of the University Hospital Virgen de Las Nieves, and was recently published in the journal Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics. (source ethiopianreview.com)
This is an actual abstract of the study
Efficacy of cognitive behavioural therapy for the treatment of chronic stress in patients with lupus erythematosus: a randomized controlled trial.
Chronic stress worsens the quality of life (QOL) of lupus patients by affecting their physical and psychological status. The effectiveness of a cognitive-behavioural intervention in a group of patients with lupus and high levels of daily stress was investigated. METHODS: Forty-five patients with lupus and high levels of daily stress were randomly assigned to a control group (CG) or a therapy group (TG); they received cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) which consisted of ten consecutive weekly sessions. The following variables were evaluated at baseline and at 3, 9 and 15 months: (1) stress, anxiety, depression, (2) Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index, somatic symptoms, number of flares, (3) anti-nDNA antibodies, complement fractions C3 and C4 and (4) QOL. A multivariate analysis of repeated measures and various analyses of variance were carried out. RESULTS: We found a significant reduction in the level of depression, anxiety and daily stress in the TG compared to the CG and a significant improvement in QOL and somatic symptoms in the TG throughout the entire follow-up period. We did not find any significant changes in the immunological parameters. CONCLUSIONS: CBT is effective in dealing with patients suffering from lupus and high levels of daily stress as it significantly reduces the incidence of psychological disorders associated with lupus and improves and maintains patients’ QOL, despite there being no significant reduction in the disease activity index. (source nih.gov)
Lupus Foundation of America Collaborates with Feds to Expand Medical Education
Monday, February 15th, 2010Lupus Foundation of America Collaborates with Federal Agencies and the U.S. Surgeon General’s Office to Expand Medical Education on Lupus
(Washington,DC) Representatives from the Lupus Foundation of America (LFA), along with 22 national organizations, attended the first consortium meeting aimed at developing a national health care provider education initiative to improve lupus diagnosis, treatment, and management among minorities. The meeting, held at the American College of Rheumatology offices in Atlanta, Georgia from January 12–14, 2010, was facilitated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office on Women’s Health (OWH), and Office of Minority Health (OMH).
According to an LFA survey, a person waits on average three years and visits four doctors before receiving an accurate diagnosis of lupus. More than 90 percent of people with lupus are women, and it is two to three times more common among African Americans, Hispanics, Asian Americans, and Native Americans. Physician and health care provider education is critical to improving the early diagnosis and management of lupus, and ultimately preventing the life-threatening consequences of the disease, particularly among those most at-risk for the disease.
An estimated $1.6 million is available for the initiative entitled, “Eliminating Disparities in Lupus Through Education and Training for Health Professionals” (EDLET/HP), which ultimately seeks to expand and promote the utilization of more comprehensive lupus curricula in medical and nursing schools, and among health care professionals and professional associations.
It is estimated that 80 percent of Americans know little or nothing about lupus. For far too long there have been limited resources to address the patient, public, and professional education gaps in lupus. In part, the first-ever Ad Council public awareness campaign on lupus sponsored by the OWH launched last year began to address the long-standing need to raise awareness and close the gap. The LFA is the Founding Partner on the campaign, “Could I Have Lupus?” which is directed at those most at-risk for developing the disease, and urges individuals who may be experiencing symptoms to ask their doctor about lupus. The EDLET/HP initiative is the health care professional counterpart to the Ad Council campaign.
“The LFA commends the Office of Minority Health and Office on Women’s Health for the foresight in developing these initiatives,” said Sandra C. Raymond, LFA President and CEO. “We also want to thank lupus advocates across the United States for bringing to Congressional attention the urgent need for comprehensive patient, public, and professional education programs on lupus.”
This year, the LFA will be hosting its 12th annual Advocacy Day program in Washington, DC from March 15-16, 2010. It is an opportunity for individuals to educate Members of Congress about lupus, and encourage them to support more funding for lupus research and education programs. To learn more Advocacy Day or to register, visit www.lupus.org/advocacyday.
In Memory of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
Monday, September 28th, 2009
Lucy Vodden
Lucy Vodden of ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’ fame passed away
Lucy, who provided the inspiration for the Beatles’ classic song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” has died after a long battle with lupus. She was 46. Her death was announced Monday by St. Thomas’ Hospital in London, where she had been treated for the chronic disease for more than five years, and by her husband, Ross Vodden. Britain’s Press Association said she died last Tuesday. Hospital officials said they could not confirm the day of her death. Vodden’s connection to the Beatles dates back to her early days, when she made friends with schoolmate Julian Lennon, John Lennon’s son.
Julian Lennon, then 4 years old, came home from school with a drawing one day, showed it to his father, and said it was “Lucy in the sky with diamonds.” At the time, John Lennon was gathering material for his contributions to “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” a landmark album released to worldwide acclaim in 1967. The elder Lennon seized on the image and developed it into what is widely regarded as a psychedelic masterpiece, replete with haunting images of “newspaper taxis” and a “girl with kaleidoscope eyes.” Rock music critics thought the song’s title was a veiled reference to LSD, but John Lennon always claimed the phrase came from his son, not from a desire to spell out the initials LSD in code. Vodden lost touch with Julian Lennon after he left the school following his parents’ divorce, but they were reunited in recent years when Julian Lennon, who lives in France, tried to help her cope with the disease. He sent her flowers and vouchers for use at a gardening center near her home in Surrey in southeast England, and frequently sent her text messages in an effort to buttress her spirits.
“I wasn’t sure at first how to approach her,” Julian Lennon told the Associated Press in June. “I wanted at least to get a note to her. Then I heard she had a great love of gardening, and I thought I’d help with something she’s passionate about, and I love gardening too. I wanted to do something to put a smile on her face.”
In recent months, Vodden was too ill to go out most of the time, except for hospital visits. She enjoyed her link to the Beatles, but was not particularly fond of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” “I don’t relate to the song, to that type of song,” she told the Associated Press in June. “As a teenager, I made the mistake of telling a couple of friends at school that I was the Lucy in the song and they said, ‘No, it’s not you, my parents said it’s about drugs.’ And I didn’t know what LSD was at the time, so I just kept it quiet, to myself.” Vodden is the latest in a long line of people connected to the Beatles who died at a relatively young age. The list includes John Lennon, gunned down at age 40, manager Brian Epstein, who died of a drug overdose when he was 32, and original band member Stuart Sutcliffe, who died of a brain hemorrhage at 21.
A spokeswoman for Julian Lennon and his mother, Cynthia Lennon, said they were “shocked and saddened” by Vodden’s death. Angie Davidson, a lupus sufferer who is campaign director of the St. Thomas’ Lupus Trust (www.lupus.org.uk), said Vodden was “a real fighter” who had worked behind the scenes to support efforts to combat the disease.
“It’s so sad that she has finally lost the battle she fought so bravely for so long,” said Davidson.
NIH New Innovator Award
Saturday, September 26th, 2009Washington, September 26 : Vikas Nanda, a scientist of Indian origin, has won the prestigious National Institutes of Health
(NIH) Director’s New Innovator Award this year.
Dr. Nanda is assistant professor of biochemistry and a member of the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. He will receive 1.5 million dollars over five years to support his novel approach to creating a synthetic network of proteins resembling the extracellular matrix of mammalian cells. This will allow research into the role of the matrix in normal and disease processes and help translate new findings into the development of biomaterials, which can then be used to engineer artificial tissue for treatment of human diseases.
“Dr. Nanda has demonstrated exceptional innovation as a researcher and is highly deserving of the esteemed New Innovator Award,” said Peter S. Amenta, MD, PhD, dean of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. “His research into the role extracellular matrices play in causing disease could transform therapy for patients,” he added.
The extracellular matrix (ECM) is a complex network of proteins that provides a surface upon which cells can adhere, transform and spread rapidly. The ECM mediates communication within cells and under normal conditions can suppress a cell’s transformation from a normal state to one that is malignant. Alterations in the ECM are critical contributors to a wide spectrum of diseases, including cancer, lupus and other autoimmune disorders. Dr. Nanda’s research focuses on the construction of artificial collagen-based matrices using computational methods. These matrices will be used to examine the role of chemical and spatial organization of the network of proteins in the ECM on the tumor forming potential of adhered cells.
“I am honored to receive support for my research from the NIH,” said Dr. Nanda. “By constructing artificial matrices, we can explore their ability to suppress rapid cell growth in the presence of various signals that contribute to abnormal tumor development. This will provide a powerful system for studying molecular aspects of the matrix biology of cancer,” he added.
Dr. Nanda added that successfully designed matrices can be applied to engineering safer artificial human tissues that may provide therapeutic treatment of chronic diseases, including those of the bowel, bone and skin. According to the NIH, New Innovator Awards support a small number of investigators of exceptional creativity who are early in their research careers. (ANI)
Her Diamonds Secret Meaning
Friday, September 25th, 2009Lyrically, “Her Diamonds” is inspired by his wife Marisol’s 7-year battle with an auto-immune disease. “It’s really a song about empathy,’ Thomas says. Thomas’ wife, Marisol, who in recent years has struggled with this lupus-like autoimmune disease, also provided backing vocals for the title track. Please support Rob through his music and support Lupus Awareness with his music.
1 in 4000 Lupus Patients Develop PML
Saturday, September 12th, 2009A current study examines the association between rituximab, a common lymphoma treatment and progressive multifocal leukoencephalitis (PML), a fast-moving and often fatal infection that attacks the white matter of the brain.
Hematologist and oncologist Charles Bennett, MD, of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, is leading the project. In a recent issue of the journal Blood, he and his co-investigators reported on 57 cases, spanning from 1997 to 2008, in which patients with lymphoma, anemia, or rheumatoid arthritis developed PML after taking rituximab.
“People may think [PML is] early Alzheimer’s disease or depression,” Dr Bennett explained, noting that the infection often goes undiagnosed because the symptoms are so subtle at first. “Many of these patients have cancer and when they die, people assume it’s the cancer that killed them.”
Clinicians should look for forgetfulness, disorientation, mood changes, and any other strange neurological symptoms in individuals taking rituximab. In cases described by Dr Bennett, a brain biopsy and spinal tap confirmed the diagnosis of PML after a brain MRI and biopsy demonstrated a brain that appeared to have been eaten away. Rituximab has become the third monoclonal antibody to be associated with PML, according to a statement issued by Dr Bennett. The other 2 agents are Raptiva, which was taken off the market in April, and Tysabri, which was withdrawn from the market for 1.5 years because of similar concerns.
In lymphoma, rituximab binds to the CD20 protein, which is found on the outside of B-cell lymphomas. This action ultimately helps destroy the cancerous cell. “The drug has tremendous usefulness in lymphoma, but as its use expands to diseases that are not cancer, we might have to reconsider the risk benefit,” cautioned Dr Bennett.
“Some cancer patients take this drug chronically for nonfatal chronic leukemia, where the risk-benefit calculations differ from lymphoma.”
It’s not yet known how rituximab is connected to PML, or who may be at risk. Dr Bennett said the best available research exists in the area of lupus. In that patient population, an estimated 1 in 4000 develop PML.
Dr Bennett said the next step in the process is to determine the risk factors for PML in people who take rituximab. “We need to learn more about this. People have to think about the pros and cons in settings where it is being used for nonmalignant diseases,” he cautioned. People have been lulled into a false sense of security that this drug is harmless and that it only does good things. No drug is perfect.”
Multiple Sclerosis Cure May Also Benefit Crohn’s Disease, Lupus and Arthritis
Thursday, August 13th, 2009Led by Jacques Galipeau, researchers at the Jewish General Hospital Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research and the McGill University in Montreal, in an experimental treatment for multiple sclerosis, managed to completely reverse the auto-immune disorder in mice.
Calling the new treatment GIFT15, the researchers said it might put multiple sclerosis in humans into remission by suppressing the immune response.
The new treatment might also be effective against other auto-immune disorders like Crohn’s disease, lupus and arthritis, and could also control immune responses in organ transplant patients, a university statement said Wednesday. The researchers said unlike earlier immune-suppressing therapies that rely on chemical pharmaceuticals, this new approach is “a personalized form of cellular therapy which utilizes the body’s own cells to suppress immunity in a much more targeted way”.
The new treatment, or GIFT15, involves two proteins, GSM-CSF and interleukin-15, fused together artificially in the lab. Under normal circumstances, the individual proteins act to stimulate the immune system, but when they are fused, the equation reverses itself.
“You know those mythical animals that have the head of an eagle and the body of a lion. They are called chimeras. In a lyrical sense, that is what we have created,” said research leader Galipeau, who is a world-renowned expert on cell regeneration. “GIFT15 is a new protein hormone composed of two distinct proteins, and when they’re stuck together they lead to a completely unexpected biological effect,” he said.
This effect converts B-cells – a common form of white blood cell normally involved in immune response – into powerful immune-suppressive cells, he added. The Canadian said naturally-occurring immune-suppressing B-cells are almost unknown in nature and the notion of using them to control immunity is very new.
He said: “GIFT15 (the new treatment) can take your normal, run-of-the-mill B-cells and convert them into these super-powerful B-regulatory cells. “We took normal B-cells from mice, and sprinkled GIFT15 on them, which led to this Jekyll and Hyde effect. And when we gave them back intravenously to mice ill with multiple sclerosis, the disease went away.” He said there were no significant side-effects in the mice, and the treatment was fully effective with a single dose.
The research leader said multiple sclerosis must be caught in its earliest stages to be reversed by the new treatment, though clinical studies are needed to test its efficacy and safety in humans. (Nature Medicine Journal)
