Warren symposium follows legacy of geneticist giant

If we want to understand how the brain creates memories, and how genetic disorders distort the brain’s machinery, then the fragile X gene is an ideal place to start. That’s why the Stephen T. Warren Memorial Symposium, taking place November 28-29 at Emory, will be a significant event for those interested in neuroscience and genetics. Stephen T. Warren, 1953-2021 Warren, the founding chair of Emory’s Department of Human Genetics, led an international team that discovered Read more

Mutations in V-ATPase proton pump implicated in epilepsy syndrome

Why and how disrupting V-ATPase function leads to epilepsy, researchers are just starting to figure Read more

Tracing the start of COVID-19 in GA

At a time when COVID-19 appears to be receding in much of Georgia, it’s worth revisiting the start of the pandemic in early 2020. Emory virologist Anne Piantadosi and colleagues have a paper in Viral Evolution on the earliest SARS-CoV-2 genetic sequences detected in Georgia. Analyzing relationships between those virus sequences and samples from other states and countries can give us an idea about where the first COVID-19 infections in Georgia came from. We can draw Read more
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Sam Lim

Lupus expert hosts live chat on medications Nov. 23

Today, S. Sam Lim, MD, assistant professor of medicine, Emory School of Medicine, and chief of rheumatology at Grady Memorial Hospital, will host a live chat on the Lupus Foundation of America website to help educate people with lupus about the need to adhere to their medications as prescribed.

Sam Lim, MD

S. Sam Lim, MD

Lim heads two lupus clinics and is involved in several federal, state and privately funded projects, including the CDC-funded Georgia Lupus Registry. He also serves on the Medical Scientific Advisory Committee of the Lupus Foundation of America and its Georgia Chapter.

Lupus (systemic lupus erythematosus, or SLE) is a chronic inflammatory disease that can affect various parts of the body, especially the skin, joints, blood, and kidneys. The potentially life-threatening autoimmune disease affects an estimated 1.5 million Americans.

Medications cannot cure lupus, but they play an important role in managing the signs and symptoms of lupus and can often prevent or slow organ damage. Medication treatment for lupus often involves reaching a balance between preventing severe, possibly life-threatening organ damage, maintaining an acceptable quality of life and minimizing side effects.

Because most lupus symptoms are caused by inflammation, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and antimalarial medications are usually enough to reduce symptoms, says Lim. Medications range in strength from mild to extremely strong, and often several drugs are used in combination to control the disease.

According to a new study published in the journal Arthritis Care and Research, depression is a leading reason why patients with systematic lupus erythematosus (SLE) may not take their medication.

Good communication between people with lupus and their doctors is essential to ensure effective management of the medicines that are prescribed, says Lim. An array of drug therapies is now available, and more than 30 clinical studies are underway of potential new treatments for lupus. Lim recently received a $1 million grant from the Georgia Department of Human Resources to continue his work gathering data for the five-year-old Georgia Lupus Registry, the largest, most comprehensive population-based lupus registry in the country.

Join Lim on his live chat today.

Posted on November 23, 2009 by admin in Uncategorized Leave a comment