Brigham & Womens Hospital’s Pituitary Day 2014

BWH_Pit_Day

In partnership with the Brain Science Foundation, the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Pituitary Neuroendocrine Center is pleased to present

Pituitary Day 2014

Saturday, March 29, 2013
8 AM – 5 PM
Bornstein Amphitheater
at Brigham & Women’s Hospital
75 Francis Street
Boston, MA

This conference is intended to unite patients, caregivers, family and friends with leading clinicians, researchers, nurses, and other experts to discuss the latest in pituitary diagnosis and treatment. All patients, caregivers, family and friends are welcome!

For more information, please visit brainsciencefoundation.org or call Sarah Donnelly at 781-239-2903.

2nd Annual Patient Advocacy Summit

RARE

Come join us for our 2nd Annual “RARE Patient Advocacy Summit
to be held on Friday, September 20, 2013
at The Balboa Bay Club & Resort in Newport Beach, CA.

Register today!

Seating is limited for in-person participation.

Webcast registration available for those unable to attend in person.

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From Symptom to Cure:  The Journey of a Rare Disease Advocate ~ Equipping Patients to Make a Difference

Join Global Genes | RARE Project for a unique and interactive educational experience at our 2nd Annual Patient Advocacy Summit on Friday, September 20, 2013.   There is no charge to participate in this event.

A rare diagnosis changes everything. It crashes plans and dreams, knocks you off your feet, and requires a continual investment of time and money as you try to determine what should be your next step.  The purpose of the RARE Patient Advocacy Summit is to help patient ADVOCATES become successful ACTIVISTS and to provide the discussion, insights and tools to move down this advocacy path, equipped and prepared.

The summit will offer practical advice, case studies and networking opportunities as we learn from one another.  The goal is to have patient advocates walk away with a better understanding of the challenges they will face and where they can be most effective in helping advocate for their disease/disorder.

Attendees will:
  • Learn how to get started: obtain 501c3 status, write grants, leverage PR effectively and utilize social media to spread your message.

  • Collaboration: Understand how to successfully work with other rare disease stakeholders, patient advocates, the FDA and other government entities.

  • Learn the importance of patient registries, the different types of registries and how advocates can support them.

  • Explore the role of foundations and advocates related to scientific discovery and drug development.

  • Gain a broad understanding of the scientific process, including diagnostic and research methodologies and collaborations with academia and industry.

At the end of this day-long event, each participant will gain perspective on the complexities and questions that need to be considered in order to become effective advocates for the rare disease patients and help advance therapies in the rare diseases we represent.

Who Should Attend:
  • Rare disease patients, caregivers, family members and friends
  • Patient advocates

Whether you are new to this rare disease journey or an experienced traveler, an individual advocate or part of an existing rare disease organization, you will gain value from this event.

Register today!

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Hotel and Travel Information

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Sponsor Information

To become a sponsor or for more information, please contact Nicole Boice.  We look forward to seeing you at this year’s summit.

 View videos from our 2012 event.

Seminar: Putting Patients First

putting-patients

 

September 30, 2013 | 9:30 am – 2:30 pm
W Hotel, 515 15th Street, NW, Washington, DC

How do patients, providers, and payers know whether health information is credible, accurate, useful or appropriate?

Comparative effectiveness research (CER) has the potential to improve health outcomes by helping people make better-informed decisions. But how do we know that CER will generate information that is useful?

You can help us find the answers by joining us on September 30 for a conversation and symposium featuring a broad range of health care stakeholders—patients, providers, policymakers, payers, researchers, and those who fund research. We’ll focus on an effort led by the National Health Council to create a framework to guide the development of CER, evaluate its results, and assist in communicating the findings to the right audiences.

Be a part of the conversation—register today and add your voice to our efforts to make CER useful. Tweet about it using #useCER.

Bio Categories

Chemical structure of cortisol.

Chemical structure of cortisol. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

List of all the categories from Cushing’s Bios

What is the Best Approach to Suspected Cyclical Cushing Syndrome?

Strategies for Managing Cushing’s Syndrome With Variable Laboratory Data

Brew Atkinson, Karen R. Mullan

Disclosures

Clin Endocrinol. 2011;75(1):27-30.

 

Abstract

Cyclical Cushing’s syndrome is a pattern of hypercortisolism in which the biochemistry of cortisol production fluctuates rhythmically. This syndrome is often associated with fluctuating symptoms and signs. It is now being increasingly recognized. The phenomenon is important because it can, if not recognized, lead to errors in diagnosis and differential diagnosis of the syndrome and in assessment of therapeutic outcomes. The techniques and criteria, protocols and dynamic biochemical tools to detect cycling in patients with hypercortisolism are discussed as are the strategies for diagnosing and managing this important subgroup of patients with hypercortisolism.

Introduction

Cyclical Cushing’s syndrome (CS) is a pattern in hypercortisolism in which the biochemistry of cortisol production fluctuates rhythmically. This can also be associated with fluctuating symptoms and signs. This type of case was initially thought to be rare. However, it has recently been recognized as occurring much more frequently. The phenomenon is important because, if not recognized, it can lead to errors in diagnosis and differential diagnosis of the syndrome and in assessment of therapeutic outcomes. All of these can have very serious clinical consequences.

As a result of reading this article, it is hoped that readers will be better able to consider more carefully the risks associated with too wide a diagnostic trawl for the diagnosis of CS and the associated chances of finding some abnormality of steroid biochemistry.

In cases where the diagnosis is being strongly considered, the risks of not considering episodic secretion when laboratory results are discordant are discussed. Readers should be able to plan strategies to assess for variable and cyclical secretion and to use these in diagnosis, differential diagnosis and treatment assessments.

Read more here: What is the best approach to suspected cyclical Cushing syndrome?