LIVEWELL/BIENVIVRE Newsletter - Winter 2011

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Perspective Offering hope through researchby Fagan, President, Canadian Liver FoundationIn labs across Canada, liver researchers are studying enzymes, proteins, viruses and genes seeking to unlock the secrets of liver disease. It is painstaking work that leads to incremental advances in our understanding of what causes liver disease, how it develops and ultimately how it can be cured or prevented. While big breakthroughs such as the development of a vaccine or the discovery of a gene are dramatic, more often than not, they are made possible by the years of research that preceded them. Read Full Article

Issues in Liver HealthFor a child with liver disease, a liver transplant can be a life-saving and life-altering experience. The good news is that long-term survival after pediatric liver transplantation is now the rule rather than the exception. Yet with this success have come new challenges for patients and their families related to the life-long need for special medications and follow-up required post-transplant .Read Full Article

Donors Making a Difference considers himself a lucky man. On July 7, 2010, he received a new lease on life in the form of a new liver. After his recovery, wanted to make sure that others benefited from his good fortune. Read Full Article

What's New in Liver ResearchIn the first year of life, babies grow and develop from helpless infants into babbling on-the-move toddlers. Along the way, they achieve many developmental milestones ranging from rolling over, crawling or walking to forming their first words. To make it all possible babies’ rapidly growing brains and bodies need steady supplies of important nutrients. If they are deprived of these nutrients during this critical growth stage, they may experience delays that can affect them for the rest of their lives.Read Full Article

Good News

Helping family physicians recognize liver disease

Liver disease can be difficult to diagnose because it often has vague or non-existent symptoms until it reaches an advanced stage. It is critical that family physicians and other primary health care professionals know what to look for and when and how to act in these types of situations because in many cases, time is of the essence. In November 2010, the CLF partnered with the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine and some of Canada’s leading liver specialists to hold a continuing medical education session for primary care physicians, specialists, residents and nurses. Attendees from Ontario, Quebec and even as far away as Florida gave the session top marks for the timely, relevant and practical liver health information covering topics such as hepatitis, fatty liver disease, pediatric liver disease, and liver cancer. Practical Hepatology is part of the Canadian Liver Foundation’s ongoing efforts to promote professional education as

a critical step in reducing the incidence of preventable and/or treatable forms of liver disease. Practical Hepatology was made possible through unrestricted educational grants from the following:

Gilead Sciences Canada Inc. GlaxoKline Inc.

The Canadian Liver Foundation and Canadian Blood Services work on improving organ and tissue donation and transplantation ratesFor the past year, the Canadian Liver Foundation has worked closely with Canadian Blood Services in an effort to improve Canada’s organ and tissue donation and transplantation (OTDT) system.While Canadians are very supportive of organ and tissue donation and transplantation, not enough act on that support. As a result, Canada’s donation rate is about half that of the best performing countries and has been relatively flat for the last decade.Recognizing this problem, the Federal, Provincial and Territorial governments mandated Canadian Blood Services to work with the OTDT community to design a system that would better meet the needs of all Canadians.Since then, thousands of stakeholders—including groups like The Canadian Liver Foundation, individual transplant recipients, families, donors and

medical experts—have shared their views on the values and components of a new system.The Canadian Liver Foundation has been clear in stating that they are supportive of a new system that provides better access to organs for all patients, and that explores ways to increase the donor base in Canada. Those have been important areas of discussion and consideration in developing options for the new system, and are aspects that Canadian Blood Services and its partners are committed to. Proposals and options for the new system will be presented to the Deputy Ministers in the latter part of 2010. The resulting dialogue will provide refinements, with a final set of recommendations expected to follow in early 2011.There are still opportunities for you to get involved. If you have a personal experience with organ donation or transplantation we’d love to hear about it. Please visit www.blood.ca/speakup to share your story and your experiences with Canadians from coast-to-coast. While you’re there you can also read the reports generated from the nine public dialogues held on this subject across the country, or you can even download a kitchen table conversation kit that will give you everything you need to convene a discussion about OTDT with friends, family, or colleagues.

On the day that 17 year old Ayuen was scheduled to take his G2 road test, driving was the furthest thing from his mind. Instead of being behind the wheel, was in surgery having part of his father’s liver transplanted into his body. Read More

Giving your liver a breath of fresh air

Looking for a girls' night out or maybe a date night? Join us for What a Girl Wants in Vancouver on March 31, 2011.For tickets or sponsorship inquiries, call (604) 707-6430 or email emurgoci@... Stay tuned for details on upcoming What a Girl Wants events in Winnipeg, London, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal!

Help fight liver disease one kilometre at a time. Sign up today and start training and fundraising as part of our Give'r for Liver marathon team. In 2011, Give'r for Liver teams are headed to:New York, New York - April 3, 2011Maui, Hawaii - September 18, 2011Athens, Greece - November 13, 2011To find out more, visit www.giverforliver.ca

Grab your snowshoes, cross-country skiis or nordic poles and join in the March for Liver on March 13 in New Brunswick!For details and to sign up online, click here

Mark your calendars and plan on joining a Canadian Liver Foundation team for a Scotiabank Charity Challenge in a city near you!Calgary - May 29, 2011Vancouver - June 26, 2011Toronto - October 16, 2011

We are pleased to be a partner in the Ontario Health Study which will help us understand the causes, prevention and treatment of diseases such as cancer, heart disease, asthma, diabetes and liver disease.The study needs you! Sign up today.

Looking for Valentine's Day, birthday or wedding presents? Shop online through Cangive.ca and you can help support the CLF!

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