If you are among the millions of women who suffer from Fibroids then you may want to look into this new minimally invasive treatment under investigation. But first the basics :

In case you are wondering what fibroids are, here is some info.
-Fibroids are a common muscle cell tumor that grows in the wall of the uterus. It often causes increased bleeding and pain with menstrual periods.
- Millions of women suffer from uterine fibroids, also simply known as fibroids or myomas, leiomyomas.
- The cause of uterine fibroid tumors is unknown.
- 80% women develop these tumors during their lifetime. 70% of Caucasian women and over 80% of African- American women develop uterine fibroids  by the age of 50.
- 25%-30% of women have symptomatic fibroids. They may experience heavy menstrual periods, menstrual pain, abdominal enlargement, pain with sexual intercourse, increased frequency of urination and simply, a feeling of fullness.

Physicians often treat symptomatic fibroids by removing the uterus, a process known as hysterectomy. It is estimated that approx 230,000 hysterectomies are conducted every year.

Less dramatic treatments have been developed, like removing the fibroid tissue while leaving the uterus behind (myomectomy) or blocking the uterine artery to reduce the fibroid size.  A new treatment is being investigated in which just three needle like tubes are inserted in the abdomen via a laparoscope. One of these is inserted in the fibroid tissue and the tissue is ablated by heat energy generated by high frequency radio waves.

Initial clinical studies with women (outside the US) have shown positive results and hence a larger Phase 3 clinical trial is underway in 6 sites in the usa. These include Phoenix, New York, Detroit, San Ramon (CA), Reno (NV) and Chesterfield (MO). If you are above 25, have completed child bearing and dont want to have a hysterectomy then you may want to reach out the the nearest trial site and find our more.

If you have fibroids and or know people who may have fibroids, then help spread the word about this new treatment trial.

A recently released Bollywood movie, “Paa” (means dad) starring one of the most versatile and accomplished actors, Amitabh Bachchan, has stirred active interest in the very rare disease, Progeria (see the spate of news stories about the movie and disease).

As per the Progeria Research Foundation, Progeria or  Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome ( “HGPS”), is a rare, fatal genetic condition characterized by an appearance of accelerated aging in children. Its name is derived from the Greek and means “prematurely old.”  The classic type of the disease ia called is Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome, which was named after the doctors who first described it in England; in 1886 by Dr. Jonathan Hutchinson and in 1897 by Dr. Hastings Gilfor

The disease is so rare that only 40-50 patients are known to have the condition. These children  are born looking healthy, but with Progeria they “begin to display many characteristics of rapid aging at around 18-24 months of age. Progeria signs include growth failure, loss of body fat and hair, aged-looking skin, stiffness of joints, hip dislocation, generalized atherosclerosis, cardiovascular (heart) disease and stroke. Children with Progeria die of atherosclerosis (heart disease) at an average age of thirteen years (with a range of about 8 – 21 years).”

In 2003, a major breakthough in Progeria research happened with the discovery of the LMN Gene that is likely the cause of the disease.

But more importantly, there is actually an active clinical trial underway for the first possible drug for this disease. A combination of Lonafarnib, Zoledronic Acid, and Pravastatin is being tested as a possible treatment for Progeria at the Childrens Hospital in Boston.

This is remarkable that within just 7 years of the discovery of the gene, a treatment is well underway in clinical trials!

The cast of Paa have done a great service by  bringing this disease into the mainstream discussion.

We need more such efforts on a regular basis to increase awareness about clinical trials of treatment for other conditions.

Endometriosis or Endo is a disorder causing severe pelvic pain and (associated with) in-fertility that affects about 5.5 million women in North America and 5-10% of women globally. It is caused when the lining of womb attaches itself to ovaries and other structures outside the womb. There is no cure for endometriosis but there a few promising treatments options available.

March is the National Endometriosis Awareness Month and lets do our part to help raise public awareness and support the efforts to find a cure for this disease

1. Read about Diana Wallis’s mission to raise the awareness. Diana is a survivor and a real hero decidated to the sole mission of raising awareness of Endo. She is a VP of European Parliament. She also writes a blog about her daily efforts to prepare herself for the London Marathon on April 26th.
2. Artists for Endometriosis Event for fundraising and awareness on March 7 2009. Add their FaceBook App.
3. If you are patient, there are several local support groups across the world that you can join.
4. On TrialX, we provide a listing of on-going endometriosis treatment clinical trials in the US and Canada. If you run a blog or website, show your support for Endometriosis by embedding this small widget.

5. We know you love Google but use this link GoodSearch.org for web search (and bookmark it!). They donate to Endometriosis Association every time you make a search on their site.

Lets just not stop after this March but continue each month by month and day by day to raise awareness and help find a cure for endometriosis.

says Jolanta Stettler, a 39 year old female from Denver, who was diagnosed with ocular melanoma and had less than six months to live. As reported in this NYTimes article, she and her husband searched the Internet to find an ongoing study that used a new treatment that injected tiny beads that emit a small amount of radiation – this helped her for 18 months. Next, she searched for advanced clinical trials and enrolled in a clinical trial sponsored by the National Institutes of Health that used concentrated chemotherapy, which resulted in reducing of her tumors by half.

A search for “ocular melanoma” or “eye cancer” on TrialX.org gives 2 on-going clinical trials:

1. Investigative Trial of Interferon Alpha-2b To Shrink Cancer of the Eye : This clinical trial is investigating whether the drug currently showing promise in skin cancer can be used for eye cancer. The trial is enrolling patients with tumor size greater than 8 mm in diameter and greater than 2 mm in thickness. The patients taking any form of immunosuppersive medications will be excluded. This trial is being conducted at (If you are not sure about whether you qualify, you can use your health record from Google Health or Microsoft HealthVault with TrialX.org to determine whether you are eligible for this clinical trial and contact appropriate trial investigator)
2. Optical Coherence Tomography of Retinal Abnormalities Associated With Choroidal Nevus Choroidal Melanoma and Choroidal Melanoma Treated With Iodine-125 Brachytherapy: This trial uses an advanced imaging technology that provides pictures of inner tissues of eye which wasn’t possible before. The trial is currently being conducted at the Jules Stein Eye Institute in Los Angeles, CA.

There are hundreds of Jolanta Stettlers out there who have been told “there is absolutely nothing that can be done” but these brave souls kept fighting and did not give up. Ultimately, they are helping millions of others and the future generations who will get the timely benefit of the new therapy or drug developed as consequence of their participation in these studies.