April 2009 Declared National Safe Handling Awareness Month

April 2009 Declared National Safe Handling Awareness Month

In an act to further education surrounding the safe handling of hazardous drugs in the healthcare setting, April 2009 has been declared the first-ever National Safe Handling Awareness Month with Monday, April 20, 2009 being declared the first-ever National Safe Handling Awareness Day.

Columbus, OH (PRWEB) February 24, 2009 -- In an act to further education surrounding the safe handling of hazardous drugs in the healthcare setting, April 2009 has been declared the first-ever National Safe Handling Awareness Month with Monday, April 20, 2009 being declared the first-ever National Safe Handling Awareness Day.

The proclamation of National Safe Handling Awareness Month follows the need for increased safe handling cognizance given the known risks associated with exposure to hazardous drugs (such as chemotherapy agents). According to an alert published by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), "working with or near hazardous drugs in healthcare settings may cause skin rashes, infertility, miscarriage, birth defects and possibly leukemia or other cancers." Further evidence to support the need to take action in this area may be found below.

In recognition of National Safe Handling Awareness Month, a variety of regional and national continuing education (CE) activities will be scheduled throughout April. The headline event, a complimentary, nationwide CE webcast, will take place on April 20th from 1:00-2:00pm EST. The event will be followed by a live "Ask the Experts" session featuring today's industry thought leaders:

Keynote speakers:

Byron Peters, RPh

Director of Pharmacy

Siteman Cancer Center, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO

MiKaela Olsen, RN, MS, OCN

Oncology and Hematology Clinical Nurse Specialist

Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD

Guest Speaker:

James Jorgenson, RPh, MS, FASHP

Executive Director, Pharmacy Services

Clarian Health Partners, Methodist Hospital, Indianapolis, IN

This initiative is supported by an unrestricted educational grant provided by Carmel Pharma, Inc. - the official sponsor of National Safe Handling Awareness Month and the maker of PhaSeal®, the only clinically proven closed-system drug transfer device (CSTD) for the safe handling of hazardous drugs.

Participants may visit www.statce.com/safehandling for more information or to register for the program.

The Importance of Safe Handling

* The World Health Organization predicts a 50 percent increase of cancer cases over the next 20 years; this, combined with more potent chemotherapy drugs - as well as an increase in the use of hazardous drugs to treat non-malignant illnesses - will continue to elevate risk of exposure.

* Two separate studies investigating the toxicity in healthcare personnel who handle cytotoxic (hazardous) drugs revealed a 40-50 percent increased risk for miscarriage. A total of 7094 pregnancies of 2976 pharmacy and nursing staff were examined.

* A national survey conducted by the Environmental Working Group, the American Nurses Association, Health Care Without Harm and the Environmental Health Education Center at the University of Maryland School of Nursing showed that there are links between nurses' occupational exposure to hazardous drugs and the health problems they develop such as cancer, asthma, miscarriages and children's birth defects.

About Safe Handling Awareness Month

April has been designated the first-ever National Safe Handling Awareness Month in an effort to raise awareness of the occupational risks associated with handling hazardous drugs and educate healthcare providers on the U.S. guidelines and safety measures that may be taken to prevent hazardous drug exposure. As the highlight of National Safe Handling Awareness Month, National Safe Handling Awareness Day will bring together national and regional educational opportunities collectively aimed at preserving the health and wellbeing of the oncology healthcare professionals who devote their lives to helping others. National Safe Handling Awareness Month and National Safe Handling Awareness Day are officially sponsored by Carmel Pharma, the maker of the PhaSeal® System - today's only clinically proven closed-system drug transfer device (CSTD) for the safe handling of hazardous drugs. For additional details on National Safe Handling Awareness Month/Day, visit www.carmelpharmausa.com/aware5 or call 866-487-9250.

About Carmel Pharma (the maker of the PhaSeal® System)

The PhaSeal System is manufactured by Carmel Pharma ab in Gothenburg, Sweden and is distributed from its U.S. affiliate office, Carmel Pharma, Inc., in Columbus, OH. PhaSeal has been in use in the United States since 2000 and implemented in more than 1000 cancer facilities, infusion centers and private practices, including M.D. Anderson and Texas Children's in Houston, TX; City of Hope in Duarte, CA; Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, MA; SwedishAmerican Hospital in Rockford, IL; and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD, just to name a few. For more information on Carmel Pharma or the PhaSeal System, please visit www.phaseal.com. To request additional product details, high-resolution imagery, story ideas and expert references, or to learn more about the topic of safe handling from today's clinical thought leaders, please contact Emily Frydendal at 614-318-2635.

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Contact Information Laura Gonzalez

STAT CE

http://www.statce.com/safehandling

888-247-8700

UCSF Gallo Study Finds Hormone Disorder Drug Could Help Drinkers Stay Sober

UCSF Gallo Study Finds Hormone Disorder Drug Could Help Drinkers Stay Sober

A drug prescribed for male and female infertility and menstrual disorders could hold the key to a more effective treatment for alcoholism, according to a study by researchers at the UCSF-affiliated Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center (www.galloresearch.org).

(Vocus) February 24, 2009 -- A drug prescribed for male and female infertility and menstrual disorders could hold the key to a more effective treatment for alcoholism, according to a study by researchers at the UCSF-affiliated Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center (www.galloresearch.org).

The study showed that "alcoholic" rodents, when injected with the drug cabergoline, decreased their alcohol consumption and alcohol-seeking behavior and were less likely to relapse.

Cabergoline, which is marketed under the trade name Dostinex, is approved by the Food and Drug Administration in pill form to treat conditions caused by excess of the hormone prolactin.

The study, led by Dorit Ron, PhD, a principal investigator at the Gallo Center and associate professor of neurology at UCSF, is now on line (February 20, 2009), in the journal "Biological Psychiatry." (See end of news release for link to paper.)

Notably, cabergoline did not impact the rats' consumption of sucrose and, in a subgroup of binge-drinking mice, the drug did not appear to significantly affect intake of water or saccharin.

"This is encouraging," says Ron, "because it demonstrates that cabergoline is specific for alcohol, but does not affect general reward or pleasure. One of the problems with some existing drugs to treat alcoholism is a side effect that decreases pleasure, making compliance an obstacle to sobriety."

The research builds on an earlier, provocative finding by Ron and her colleagues regarding the protein GDNF (glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor), which they had injected into rats' VTA (ventral tegmental area) brain region, associated with drug-seeking behavior.

In this earlier study, the scientists had trained rats to consume alcohol. Some, like humans, drank in moderation, while others binged. But when GDNF was administered, both heavy and light drinkers lost at least some of their craving for alcohol. This effect became apparent within 10 minutes and lasted at least 24 hours, the scientists discovered. Importantly, administration of GDNF into the brain prevented the rats from relapsing after a period of abstinence.

While the discovery broke new ground, the scientists knew that GDNF could not be used to treat alcoholic humans because its molecule is too large to cross the blood-brain barrier. So, in the present study, Ron and her colleagues looked at cabergoline, a compound that has been shown in cells to increase the expression of GDNF.

After establishing that cabergoline treatment resulted in an increase of the level of GDNF and activation of the GDNF pathway in the rats' VTA, the researchers sought to test its impact on rodents' drinking habits.

Rats underwent a two-month training program in which they learned to press a lever to obtain alcohol. Researchers found that when rats were injected with cabergoline, they were less likely to press the lever. The higher the dose of cabergoline, the lower the number of lever presses reported. The researchers also found that binge-drinking mice consumed less alcohol after cabergoline administration.

In further study, the researchers found that cabergoline was effective in reducing both craving for alcohol and relapse to drinking. Relapse is a critical issue for alcoholic patients trying to stay abstinent.

As further evidence of the interplay between cabergoline and GDNF, alcohol intake was tested on mice that had been genetically engineered to have a single copy of the GDNF gene, and therefore less GDNF in the brain. As expected, the scientists found that the drinking habits of these genetically modified mice were not affected by cabergoline.

Although the results of the study offer fresh hope to problem drinkers, Ron cautions that human clinical trials are needed before cabergoline can be safely prescribed. Higher doses of cabergoline have been used to treat Parkinson's disease and have been linked to heart valve problems.

"However," notes Ron, "we show that in mice and rats, a low dose of the drug is enough to reduce excessive alcohol consumption, alcohol seeking and relapse. The dose is similar to what is given to humans for the treatment of hyperprolactinemia."

Cabergoline may eventually be prescribed for other addictions. A pilot study conducted on cocaine addicts, cited in Ron's paper, reported a substantial reduction in cocaine use.

In the United States, 17.6 million people -- approximately one in every 12 adults -- abuses alcohol or is alcohol-dependent, according to the National Institutes of Health. But there are just three medications approved to treat alcohol dependence -- disulfiram (Antabuse), naltrexone (Depade, ReVia), and acamprosate (Campral).

Lead author of the study is Sebastien Carnicella, PhD, postdoctoral fellow at the Gallo Center. Co-authors are Dao-Yao He, PhD, senior research scientist; Patricia Janak, PhD, associate professor of neurology at UCSF; Selena Bartlett, PhD, director of the center's preclinical development group; Carsten Nielsen, PhD, associate research scientist; and Somayeh Ahmadiantehrani, graduate student.

Research was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the State of California for medical research on alcohol and substance abuse through UCSF.

The Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center at UCSF is one of the world's preeminent academic centers for the study of the biological basis of alcohol and substance use disorders. It is the only center studying alcoholism in the United States that is based in a department of neurology. Gallo Center discoveries of potential molecular targets for the development of therapeutic medications are extended through preclinical and proof-of-concept clinical studies.

UCSF is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions and excellence in patient care.

Link to paper: http://tinyurl.com/dh6dnk

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Contact Information Jennifer O’Brien

http://www.ucsf.edu

415-476-2557

Paving the Way for Peace in the Middle East with Mind-Body Skills

Paving the Way for Peace in the Middle East with Mind-Body Skills

Truce talks are gridlocked, but this mission to provide trauma relief to both sides of the conflict goes forward. Dr. James S. Gordon and his international team plans a training of health and mental health professionals in both Israel and Gaza--the only program of its kind working in both Israel and Gaza. After arriving February 28th, 2009. With The Center for Mind-Body Medicine's groundbreaking model which teaches self-care techniques (such as meditation, guided imagery, biofeedback, and yoga, as well as self-expression in words, drawing, and movement, all in a supportive small group), Dr. Gordon and his team will help heal the wounds of war and bring relief to those suffering following the devastating siege on Gaza.

Washington, D.C., Tel Aviv, and Gaza (PRWEB) February 23, 2009 -- As truce talks drag on between Israel and Gaza, James S. Gordon, M.D., the distinguished psychiatrist who leads the Washington D.C.-based Center for Mind-Body Medicine (http://www.cmbm.org), will on March 4, 2009 lead an international team of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish mental health professionals into Gaza in a groundbreaking effort to relieve population-wide psychological trauma in that war-devastated Israeli-occupied territory. The team will arrive in Israel February 28, 2009 and make their way to a border crossing.

For the last seven years, Dr. Gordon and his CMBM team have been working intensively with the traumatized population in Gaza and Israel separately and jointly -- they are the only organization doing so. During this time, they've trained 300 Israeli professionals and 90 in Gaza to develop comprehensive, scientifically based programs that are effectively treating widespread post traumatic stress disorder, major depression, anxiety, violence, and despair.

CMBM's pioneering program, which recently received a research award from the US Department of Defense, combines such mind-body techniques as meditation, guided imagery, biofeedback, and yoga with self-expression in words, drawings, and movement in a supportive small group setting.

CMBM's program is a powerful force for peace for those living in Gaza. Before the recent Israeli invasion, CMBM's Gaza team, which has treated 15-20,000 children and adults, was providing up to 75 ten-week long mind-body groups every three months. In the aftermath of the devastation, the number of groups has tripled. The CMBM approach is currently also being offered to hundreds of families that lost members in the conflict, to orphaned children, mothers with 'failure to thrive' infants, and depressed, suicidal, and violent children and adults.

A wealth of data supports and informs CMBM's unique, highly effective model, which has been used to help traumatized populations in postwar Kosovo, post-Katrina New Orleans, as well as Israel and Gaza, and is now being implemented on an increasingly large scale with US military returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and their families.

As Dr. Gordon says, "The CMBM model is welcomed by people of all ages and races around the world because it is educational, non-stigmatizing, and demonstrably beneficial. It can be easily taught and can be used by all people of all ages on their own." Dr. Gordon describes this groundbreaking approach in his newest book Unstuck: Your Guide to the Seven-Stage Journey Out of Depression (Penguin Press; June 2008).

The results of CMBM's program are astonishing. A randomized controlled trial (RCT) on the use of the model with war-traumatized children in Kosovo -- the first RCT of any intervention with war-traumatized children -- was published in the prestigious Journal of Clinical Psychiatry in 2008; it showed an 80% decrease in symptoms following 12 sessions of mind-body skills groups. Also, data collected on the first 500 children and 600 adults in the CMBM Gaza program revealed significant decreases in symptoms of PTSD and depression and anger and increased hopefulness in those who participated in CMBM groups, gains which were largely maintained even during the ongoing siege of Gaza at six months' follow-up.

After four days working with the CMBM faculty in Israel and visiting with people affected by the Palestinian shelling in Sderot and Ashkelon, Dr. Gordon and his team will enter Gaza. During the first several days, they will visit with some of the thousands who have sought out CMBM-trained counselors to help them deal with the loss of family members and friends. During the following five days, Dr. Gordon and his colleagues will supervise the 15-member CMBM Gaza leadership team as they prepare 150 more of the most committed mental health professionals, including school psychologists and school counselors, to offer CMBM's program to Gaza's devastated children and their families.

Journalists are invited to accompany Dr. Gordon as he meets with CMBM's Israeli staff prior to entering Gaza and visits Sderot, and as the team interviews individuals and families throughout Gaza. There will be opportunities for interviews with Dr. Gordon and his Palestinian leadership team, traumatized families who have been aided, as well as the possibility to observe the training program. A short article on Dr. Gordon's work in Gaza (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/13/health/views/13case.html?ref=health) which appeared in the New York Times.

Dr. Gordon is a dynamic public speaker with a wealth of personal stories of children and adults he has helped find healing in the midst of loss and despair. A respected and world-renowned expert in mind-body medicine, he can bring the human aspects of this story to life in any medium -- radio, television, or print -- with a warm, knowledgeable voice and his wealth of experience. He is available for immediate comment and interview.

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Contact Information Dr. Gordon EA

The Center for Mind-Body Medicine

http://www.cmbm.org

202-537-6837