Touching Lives - February 2007

Known as Caroll to her friends and family, Caroline experienced her first epileptic seizure when she was just 14 years of age. At first the seizures were put down to puberty, and despite repeated fits and visits to doctors, her condition went undiagnosed.

Caroline recalls, “Epilepsy had a major effect on my life from the start. All the things that other teenagers could do were full of risks for me — drinking alcohol, going to parties and discos with flashing lights. I passed my driving test before epilepsy was diagnosed, but had to give that up soon after.”

Thanks to a £90,000 Research Training Fellowship grant from Action Medical Research, Dr Angela Deakin has been able to reveal detailed new information about the structure and properties of tendons.

Tragically, around 1,600 babies die each year as a result of being born too early. Action Medical Research believes this devastating death toll can’t be allowed to continue. That’s why the Charity is working hard to tackle prematurity, and is calling on the Government to do more too.

Around ten per cent of very premature babies (born before 32 weeks of pregnancy) die before their first birthday. Reducing the risk of premature birth is vital, but very little is actually known about why some babies are born so early. Pregnant women have few guidelines on how to avoid going into labour too soon.

Researchers at the University of Leicester have recently discovered that women from the most deprived areas are twice as likely to give birth very prematurely as women from the most affluent areas.

The relief from Income Tax is available for the full market value of the shares on the date of disposal. In other words, you will not pay Income Tax on the equivalent amount of your annual income in the tax year that the gift is made.

For example, if you are a higher rate taxpayer and make a gift of £1,000 worth of shares to Action Medical Research, you would receive Income Tax relief of 40 per cent of the full value, i.e. £400. This effectively means the donation has cost only £600.

Peter Little and Louise Cartledge have committed support to our Preventing the Pain of Chronic Conditions programme area for a three year period. They said,”We are proud to be founding Action Partners, supporting essential research to prevent the pain of chronic conditions. We hope that our donations mean that we will be there at the next breakthrough.”

These stars were displayed on our Christmas tree here at Head Office. We had a wonderful response. It may seem like a long time ago now, but we wanted to say thank you to everyone who returned their star. We were extremely touched by their messages of hope, love and remembrance.

We also thank all those who made a donation — a fantastic festive total of £8,100 was raised.

Organisers are delighted to report proceeds in the region of £90,000 from the most recent lunch, which took place in November last year. As one of Action Medical Research’s biggest fundraising events, the lunch has gone from strength to strength, with funds raised in 2006 reaching an all-time high.

Researchers already know that the way cells communicate is crucial to the wound healing process, and that in diabetic wounds, cell to cell communication is abnormal, which may contribute to slow healing.

Dr David Becker and his colleagues at University College London have shown that they can modify communication between cells in a wound by applying a bioactive gel they’ve developed called Nexagon. In laboratory tests, Nexagon, the first gel of its kind, was seen to speed up healing and reduce scarring in a variety of fresh cuts and burns in healthy tissue.

Action Medical Research’s Press Office has been busy over the last few months, getting the national media interested in both our medical research, and Touching Tiny Lives campaigning work.

At the end of 2006 we launched one of our largest ever stories, challenging the Government over the lack of funding devoted to preventing premature baby death.The story featured exclusive figures we had uncovered from the Department of Health, showing that, during 2004-5, the Government had spent only £3.7 million on medical research targeted at preventing premature birth.

Gadolinium

Some of the most significant advances in medicine have occurred in the field of imaging. It started with X-rays at the end of the 19th Century, and now there is a large variety of methods which allow the non-invasive examination of almost any part of the body.

Some of the methods can produce three-dimensional images, some can detect particular chemical reactions and “see” detail which would be invisible to the eye, even if the structure inside the body were exposed surgically.

Seventy per cent of people who use catheters long-term suffer distressing complications — a shocking statistic. Many contract infections, which can sometimes become life-threatening.

Long-term catheter use is highly problematic. The bags that collect the urine can be heavy, smelly and difficult to disguise under clothing, making many patients feel undignified. Up to half of users find that their catheter gets blocked, causing leaking or painful retention of urine, and emergency visits to a nurse to clear the blockage can be exhausting and traumatic.

Estimates suggest that about seven million people of all ages sustain significant fractures every year in the UK. Complex fractures are very difficult to treat, and patients often need extensive surgery. Treatments vary according to the nature of the break and any disruption to the bone’s blood supply, which is crucial for proper healing.

Every year, around 700,000 women give birth in the UK. During pregnancy, mothers need to be monitored so that doctors can make sure both they and their babies are safe and sound. Now, a novel device is set to change the monitoring of unborn babies, revealing new information to doctors straight from babies hearts. This new technology is the culmination of over 15 years of close collaboration between engineers and doctors at The University of Nottingham.

Huntington’s disease (HD) is an incurable brain condition, which progressively affects a person’s ability to walk, talk, think and reason. Some who carry the faulty gene develop symptoms in their thirties, others in their fifties, and some — a lucky few — do not suffer the effects of the disease at all. The reasons for these differences are poorly understood.

Two years ago Touching Lives reported on research investigating the geneticfaults which cause HD, and we can now provide an update.

Paddington has kept busy in the intervening years, featuring in many more books and making his television debut in the 1970s. The first Paddington toys were manufactured in 1971, with bears dressed in classic duffle coats, felt hats and Wellington boots. Since then he has also appeared on postage stamps, in theatre shows and museum exhibitions.

Occupational dystonia is a condition that can develop where certain types of repetitive movement cause involuntary muscle spasms of the hand. Between five and ten per cent of professional musicians suffer from it, but are often reluctant to talk publicly about the problem because of the impact it can have on their career.

There have been various studies into dystonia, but a £92,000 grant from Action Medical Research has helped fund a breakthrough in our understanding of the condition and potential therapies that can counter it.

Through the scheme we will receive £1 for every recycled inkjet cartridge and up to £10 for a mobile phone.

The Recycling Factory has a proven track record, working with several high profile charities including Childline and the RSPCA.

Taking part in the scheme costs you absolutely nothing, and all materials and postage are entirely free. You will find a recycling envelope inside this magazine — simply place your old mobile phone or ink cartridge in the envelope and pop it in the post.

They are also particularly susceptible to having a small baby with an abnormally low birth weight, and to giving birth prematurely.

Effects on the baby can be devastating. For example, very small babies are 60 per cent more likely to suffer health problems or to die at birth. Many need neonatal intensive care, and can go on to suffer lifelong disabilities. Research also shows that babies with low birth weight are at increased risk of suffering long-term health problems that begin later in life, such as heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure.

Over 100,000 people in England and Wales suffer their first stroke each year. About one third of those who survive are left with permanent disabilities, such as paralysis or weakness, often in the arms or hands. Everyday tasks like getting dressed and eating can become difficult or impossible.

Rehabilitative therapy can help, but many people find their symptoms stabilise after about six months, and many stroke patients rely on the help of carers.

What is diabetes? Diabetes is a condition in which the amount of glucose (sugar) in the blood is too high because the body cannot use it properly. Glucose enters the blood through the digestion of starchy and sweet foods, and from the liver, which produces glucose.

Our pancreas produces insulin, a hormone that helps glucose to enter the cells where it is used as fuel by the body. In people with diabetes this doesn’t happen properly, and treatment is needed.

The funds are going from strength to strength, and have already raised over £9,000. ^Thank you and well done to all those family members and friends who have been so busy supporting these Tribute Funds.^

We are also delighted that Professors Callaghan and Easton have been able to restart a research project begun by Dr Wendy Stannard. Wendy, who had been researching pneumonia in children, has a Tribute Fund set up in her memory.

Why did you decide to give to charity in this way? During my lifetime donations to charity have been restricted, but after my death my favourite charities will gain from a gift in my Will. As Action Medical Research is all about saving life and improving the quality of life, it appeals to me that many others will be able to benefit through my death.

Between five and ten per cent of the UK school-age population suffers from developmental coordination disorder (sometimes called dyspraxia). That means there’s probably one child in every classroom in the UK who, despite having normal intelligence, needs extra help with tasks such as handwriting.

Though parents often suspect a problem early on, getting an accurate diagnosis can take time, and ensuring adequate support at school can be very difficult. Primary school can be tough enough — but it’s at secondary school that the difficulties can become acute.