Kantar Health is a market research agency that specialises in pharmaceutical research, they regularly speak to physicians, patients and carers and have a wealth of experience in conducting healthcare research.  They work on behalf of pharmaceutical companies to speak to and understand how various health issues impact people’s live. On this occasion, Kantar Health would like to talk to patients who have been diagnosed with ALK+ Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC), and are undergoing treatment.

The research will be individual in-depth interviews that will take approximately 1 hour and will be conducted either via a secure video link (like Skype or FaceTime), or in your home if you feel comfortable doing so. As part of the research the company will also be asking participants to complete a diary or task for 10-15 minutes per day, for 5 days prior to the interview.

The aim of this research is to better understand patient journeys, when, where and with whom they interact before and after their diagnosis, and identify support they may have and / or need.

 All information that is shared as part of the interview will be kept strictly confidential and there will be no attempt to sell you anything. Your decision to participate, or not, will not influence any current or future treatment decisions.

Kantar Health’s interviews are carried out in accordance with current (European: MRS, EphMRA, ESOMAR, BHBIA) guidelines and Data Protection Laws as well as with local UK specific rules.

As an appreciation of your time participants will receive an amount of £200 in your choice of bank transfer or cheque.

If you are interested in taking part, please contact Megan Grendon from Gillian Kenny Associates on 01242 240 842 or MeganGrendon@gilliankenny.com

Gillian Kenny Associates is the medical market research agency that Kantar Health is using to recruit individuals  to see if you are eligible for the study.

The Healthy Caribbean Coalition has launched their Childhood Obesity Prevention Petition as part of their Civil Society Action Plan for 2017-2019.

The aim of the petition is to raise awareness of childhood obesity in the Caribbean and to influence the region’s leaders to champion and implement critical policies that will improve the health of our children, reduce childhood obesity and prevent the associated non-communicable diseases.

The Healthy Caribbean Coalition plans to present their petition at the CARICOM Heads of Governments Conference in Jamaica in July, which presents the perfect opportunity to raise this issue.

With 1 in 3 children in the Caribbean being overweight or obese urgent action is needed and therefore the HCC needs your help. Please add your voice to the HCC’s call for action to be taken on childhood obesity by signing their petition and encouraging your contacts to do so too.

We can all make a difference and improve our children’s health, and this petition is just the first step.

Thank you for your support. For more information on this campaign and to sign the petition, please visit: www.healthycaribbean.org/yourvoicematters

We’re so happy to announce that our April Fibroids Twitter Chat will be with  Le’Nise Brothers on Wednesday 18th April at 7pm,  GMT (that’s 11am PST, 2pm EST and 2pm AST).

Le’Nise Brothers,  is a nutrition and wellbeing coach for women who struggle with low energy, sugar cravings and hormonal issues such as PMS, PCOS, endometriosis, fibroids, post-natal depletion and perimenopause.  Le’Nise loves seeing her clients regain their spark, improve their health and boost their energy.

Le’Nise is a registered naturopathic Nutritional Therapist, specialising in women’s health, anxiety, depression and weight loss.  She qualified after an intensive 3 year programme at the College of Naturopathic Medicine in London, England, including over 200 clinical hours seeing clients in the student clinic.  She is also a member of the British Association of Nutritional Therapists (BANT), a regulatory body that oversees nutritional therapists in the UK.

We’ll be having a really interesting discussion with Le’Nise on the  the topic of fibroids, hormones and nutrition.

So, if you have a burning question on fibroids, the role that hormones play in their development and how  our diet impacts hormonal disorders like fibroids, then do join us on 18th April. To take part in the conversation please use the hashtag #FibroidsChat.

For more information on Le’Nise, please visit her website  eatlovemove.com or follow her on social media

Twitter:  www.twitter.com/eatlovemove

Facebook: www.facebook.com/eatlovemovenutrition

Instagram:  www.instagram.com/eatlovemove/

We’re so delighted to announce that our March Fibroids Twitter Chat will be with the Fibroid Forum UK on 14th March  at 3pm, AST (that’s 3pm EST and 7pm GMT).

We’ll be discussing all the great work that the Fibroid Forum UK have been doing to raise awareness and provide support to women who have been affected by fibroids.

Fibroid Forum UK is a Registered Charity Number 1177878 formed by women with experience of fibroids. The aim of the Forum is to provide information and create a support network through events, social media and a support group at Guys & St Thomas’ Hospital.

The Forum has contributed to the UK Government’s All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Women’s Health and the report published in March 2017 which focussed on endometriosis and fibroids. Like the APPG the Forum’s aims to empower women to ensure that they can make an informed choice about the best treatment options for their fibroids

The Fibroid Forum has a private Facebook group which you can access here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1294778417257709/  and they host a regular support group at St Thomas’ Hospital in London.

To take part in the conversation please use the hashtag #FibroidsChat.

We look forward to tweeting with you on the day!

We are delighted to announce that we are now a member of the Healthy Caribbean Coalition, an organisation that we admired from afar when we were based in the UK.

The Healthy Caribbean Coalition is a civil society alliance established to combat non-communicable diseases, their associated risk factors and conditions. In the Caribbean the four main non-communicable diseases are diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease and chronic respiratory diseases and their four main common risk factors are smoking tobacco, high alcohol consumption, an unhealthy diet and being physically inactive. These are the issues that the HCC are tackling in the region.  Additionally, the Caribbean has the highest mortality rate in the Americas from NCDs in the Americas causing three out of every four deaths, this is cause for concern and the HCC is working tirelessly to address this through prevention, early detection and influencing government policy.

We’re delighted to have become a member of the Healthy Caribbean Coalition and look forward to working with the HCC and its member organisations to tackle NCDs in the Caribbean.

For more information on the Health Caribbean Coalition you can visit their website here

The OECS Commission’s HIV/TB Elimination Project has launched a series of animations aimed at raising awareness of TB and HIV in the Caribbean. The short, three-part, series tackles HIV/TB prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment and control. One of the key messages of the series is that HIV patients can still lead a full life so early detection is of utmost importance.

This campaign targets the public, with the animations designed to encourage community involvement to facilitate social change. It also aims to bring HIV/TB into public discourse and in so doing address the stigma associated with these conditions and therefore combat the discrimination that those affected by HIV and TB may face.

The animation series is part of the significant body of work being carried out by the OECS Commission to meet the UNAIDS 90-90-90 targets by 2020. These targets are to diagnose 90% of HIV-positive persons, provide antiretroviral therapy to 90% of people diagnosed and to achieve viral suppression in 90% of those treated.

The OECS HIV/TB Elimination Project

The OECS Commission’s HIV/TB Elimination Project is a multi-country project involving six OECS member states and began on 1^st April 2016 and runs until 31^st March 2019. As well as working towards the UNAIDS 90-90-90 targets this project has the aim of ensuring that services for HIV, TB and STIs are sustained, strengthened, available and accessed by key affected populations in the OECS. To achieve their aims and objectives the HIV/TB Elimination Project will focus on five strategic areas:

1. To implement targeted evidence–based combination prevention strategies for key populations
2. To implement the TB elimination framework for low incidence countries to accelerate the elimination of TB in the OECS
3. To increase access to quality laboratory testing, screening and diagnosis for the clinical management of HIV and TB
4. To integrate TB control programs with HIV services to ensure that comprehensive, high quality care is provided for individuals co-infected with HIV and TB
5. To improve HIV/STI /TB surveillance system to increase the availability of data to support evidence-based planning, measure the impact of the response and the achievement of targets

The six member states involved in this project are Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia and St Vincent & the Grenadines, each of these countries have their own national HIV programme which are aligned with this project.

View the Animation Series

You can view the videos from the animated series below:

Episode 1: HIV/TB Screening

Episode 2: HIV/TB Prevention

Episode 3: HIV/TB Control

More Information

For more information on this animation series you can visit the OECS’s website here  and for more information on their HIV/TB Elimination Project please click here

On 9^th February the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA ) released a set of temporary safety recommendations, for healthcare professionals, on the fibroids drug ESMYA. This action was taken by the MHRA following reports of serious liver injury in four women taking ESMYA.

The MHRA have made the following recommendations:

• Do not initiate new treatment courses of EMYA, including in women who have completed one or more treatment courses previously.
• Perform liver function tests at least once a month in all women currently taking ESMYA. Stop ESMYA treatment in any woman who develops transaminase levels more than 2 times the upper limit of normal, closely monitor and refer for specialist hepatology evaluation as clinically indicated. Liver function tests should be repeated in all women 2 to 4 weeks after stopping treatment.
• Check transaminase levels immediately in current or recent users of ESMYA who present with signs or symptoms suggestive of liver injury (such as nausea, vomiting, malaise, right hypochondrial pain, anorexia, asthenia, jaundice). If transaminase levels are more than 2 times the upper limit of normal, stop treatment, closely monitor and refer for specialist hepatology evaluation as clinically indicated.
• Advise women using ESMYA on the signs and symptoms of liver injury.

They noted that there have been no reports of liver injury with ellaOne, a emergency contraceptive pill, which contains ESMYA. Therefore, there are no safety alerts for this medicine.

Currently the European Medicines Agency (EMA)  are currently conducting a review of EMSYA and will provide an update in the near future.

What is ESMYA?

ESMYA is a prescription drug that was first authorised in the EU for use in patients with fibroids in 2012. It is used to treat moderate to severe symptoms of fibroids and works by stopping the hormone progesterone from stimulating the growth of fibroids and this reduces their size.  It was initially licensed to be used before surgery to shrink fibroids but can now also be used as a stand-alone treatment. It should only be used for up to three months at a time.  The use of ESMYA can be repeated but there should be breaks between each 3-month course of treatment.

The most common side effects of ESMYA are the absence of a woman’s period and thickening of the lining of the womb. You can speak to your doctor about what all the side effects are and these will be listed in the drug leaflet which comes with ESMYA.

ESMYA must not be used by women who are pregnant or breastfeeding, have vaginal bleeding or have womb, cervical, ovarian or breast cancer. You can speak to your doctor about other restrictions or these will be listed on the drug information leaflet.

For Information

For more information you can download the EMA’s information sheet for healthcare professionals and the MHRA’s full letter issued to healthcare professionals below.

We’re so delighted to announce that our first Fibroids Twitter Chat of the year is with Laterria Patton on 21st February  at 5pm, AST (that’s 1pm PST, 4pm EST and 9pm GMT)

Laterria Patton is a Self Care Activist who writes a food blog that promotes reproductive health to black women. The blog content utilizes natural self-healing food practices to educate black women who are suffering with reproductive health problems about the hormonal process and how to keep it in balance.

She is passionate about eliminating the obstacles that contribute to the epidemic of reproductive health disorders amongst black women such as an absence of nutrition-based literature that specifically caters to their cultural needs and preferences, not having access to fresh toxic-free fruits and vegetables,  doctors who discourage  natural healing practices and a lack of understanding and support from their family unit.

Laterria is on a mission to create a world where there is a tremendous improvement in the outcomes and costs associated with breast, ovarian, uterine and vaginal ailments amongst black women because she believes that healthy eating, hormonal balance and reproductive health should be a positive, simple and stress-free experience for all women.

Join us for a chat with Laterria Patton about the common challenges that contribute to uterine disorders (like fibroids), how these challenges can be overcome and how women can achieve optimal uterine health through self-healing food practices.

We’ll be putting questions to Laterria and you can put your questions to her too. So if you have a burning question about uterine health or just want to get involved in the discussion then do join us on the day. To take part in the conversation please use the hashtag #FibroidsChat.

For more information on Laterria, please visit her blog  www.medium.com/@laterriapatton or follow her on social media

Twitter:  www.twitter.com/selfcareandfood

Facebook: www.fb.me/selfcareandfood

Instagram:  www.instagram.com/laterriapatton/

In 2016, the Black Women’s Health Imperative in the US published a really interesting report on black women’s health entitled IndexUS: What Healthy Black Women Can Teach Us About Health.

This report is the first comparative index on black women’s health based on healthy black women. It provides:

• Practical tips to help black women improve their health
• Recommendations for political and civic leaders on how to improve the health of black women
• An explanation as to why the health of black women is important.

This report was birthed out of the BWHI’s desire to change the negative narrative on black women’s health based on data from the Black Women’s Health Study which showed, yes, there are challenges when it comes to the health of black women, but actually there is much to celebrate.

The Black Women’s Health Study is a research project based at Boston University which over the past 20 years has been exploring the health and well-being of black women and comparing this to that of white women. It is a fairly large study with 59,000 black women taking part.

 As data has been made available from the study, the results have been constantly negative with the prevailing message being that black women’s health is worse than white women’s, this may be true, but the BWHI asked researchers if there were any positive messages from their research.  Looking back at the data it was found that over 50% of participants in the Black Women’s Health Study described their health as good or excellent. Of this the BHWI said:

“That is something to celebrate! Black women exercise, we eat healthy, we’re educated and we work hard. It’s time to change the narrative. It’s time for our story to be told in a way that shows who we really are when it comes to our health. We do not see ourselves as broken—stressed, yes, but not broken. We are inherently strong, resilient and passionate about our health. We are not defined by disease, obesity or poverty.”

Image taken from IndexUS (click on the image to see a large version.)

Armed with this information the BWHI then analysed the data from these healthy women in the Black Women’s Health Study to understand their lifestyles and what makes them healthy. Based on their analysis and findings they prepared their report ‘IndexUS: What Healthy Black Women Can Teach Us About Health.’  From this work the BWHI was able to establish a set of factors that were predictive of good physical and mental health in black women which they summarised in the image on the right.

The BWHI are currently conducting a series of listening events across the US that will allow for honest conversations about black women’s health and based on these conversations they will update IndexUS. To find out more about the listening events you can visit their website here

IndexUS is a very interesting and useful report and we encourage all black women to read it; the report can be accessed on the BWHI’s website here

We were absolutely delighted to be featured in the Secret Birds new social media campaign, 31 Days of Business Ideas. This campaign aims to inspire young entrepreneurs to start their business journey by giving them a wide range of ideas to learn from. The variety of businesses featured highlights the vast possibilities that are out there and underscores the importance of identifying a need and developing solutions to address that need.

Lake Health and Wellbeing (formerly The Lake Foundation) is featured on day 22 of this campaign providing up and coming business owners with the idea that challenges around health and well-being can be developed into business opportunities. We do stress that delving into this field should be done for the right reasons; to help society and not solely for personal gain as this is a field that significantly affects people’s lives and you need to have empathy and a genuine interest in people to be truly successful.

Secret Birds aims to help women in the prestart-up and start-up phase build their businesses through connecting, collaborating and growing multi-faceted memberships and to teach girls in disadvantaged communities entrepreneurial skills through Nestling Pop Ups.  They aim to build a global community with no limitations or boundaries and their mantra is to share your secrets and share your success; sharing is one of their key values and underpins everything they do.

We would like to say a big thank you to Secret Birds for featuring us in this campaign. To find out about the other businesses featured in this campaign visit the Secret Birds’ Twitter or Facebook pages and GrenStart’s Facebook page

You can also find out more about Secret Birds on their website here