Throughout Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, CureSearch teams up with advocates across the nation including passionate corporatepartners like Johnson & Johnson, Inc who are raising funds and creating awareness intheir 18 Busy Bee stores throughout Florida and Georgia from August through October.

We had a chance to sit down with Megan Forcey, Director of Advertising and Ecommerce, to learn more about Busy Bee’s philosophy on giving back:

Q: Why do you support CureSearch and Childhood Cancer Awareness Month?

A: The mission of CureSearch to work towards ending childhood cancer is such an important goal and one that everyone can get behind. No child should have to go through or suffer cancer and treatment.

In-Store Signage encouraging participation

Q: What part of this campaign are you most excited about?

A: I think the thing that is most exciting is being able to include our guests and allow them to also make an impact as well. We love to sponsor and help causes that are dear to us, but to also be able to give our guests the chance to be involved is priceless! 

Q: Why are you proud to work for Busy Bee?

A: Busy Bee does an amazing job of maintaining philanthropic partnerships and supporting the community. It’s heartwarming to participate in these endeavors.

Q: How does this partnership reflect the goals and values of Busy Bee?

A: Our partnership with CureSearch is a perfect fit for us. We are a fun and whimsical brand that believes that no one should suffer, and we are blessed to be able to help achieve that.

CureSearch is proud to partner with Busy Bee in honor of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Together, we’re making adifference in the lives of the 40,000 children who undergo cancer treatment each year.

Learn more about how you can get involved and give back during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

The post Busy Bee Gives Back by Raising Funds to Support Childhood Cancer Research appeared first on CureSearch for Children's Cancer.

Most CureSearch Ultimate Hikes take place in the fall… meaning that hikers are gearing up to train and prepare now. We asked a few of our experienced Ultimate Hikers for their most important tips to share:

Hike is hard. Train harder.

Ultimate Hiker Keri Fitzgerald says, “Don’t skip the prep work.” Training properly for hike is absolutely essential for your body and mind and it is also a great bonding experience between hikers. Fitzgerald says, “Training with the group is fun!”

 

The trail is not a red carpet.

Ultimate Hike is not the most practical event in which to debut a new outfit. With that being said, don’t hike in something you have never worn before. Ultimate Hike coach Robin Waddell recommends wearing familiar, well-worn clothes in order to better avoid blisters and unnecessary discomfort.

 

Pack lightly.

Don’t overpack on the trail. We know, it’s tempting to try and stuff everything in sight into your comfort bags, but resist the urge. Fitzgerald says, “I brought a lot of stuff for my comfort bags last year and it turned out that I didn’t need most of it. [CureSearch] is there at those aid stations with everything anyone could ask for.” Stick to essentials such as boots, socks, trekking poles, duct tape, trail mix, a hat and batteries.

 

But don’t forget this!

One thing that you can never bring too much of is a positive attitude. Remember who you are hiking for — the 43 kids diagnosed with cancer every day. Stay strong and positive.

 

The more the merrier.

Make sure to tell your friends about Ultimate Hike and encourage them to join you on your journey. Waddell says, “You can make it on your own, but it is better to have a friend to share the good and the bad and help encourage you.”

 

There’s an app for that.

Ultimate Hike coach Holly Frazier uses training apps during hikes in order to get the best experience. Popular hiking apps have features such as reminding hikers to drink water and stay hydrated or calling out each mile a hiker completes in order to keep them motivated.

 

Cue the confetti!

When the hike is over, don’t forget to celebrate your achievement. Waddell says, “Whether you hiked one mile or 28.3, you are awesome! You have trained hard and raised money for a very worthy cause and you should be very proud of yourself!”

The post Tips to know before going on an Ultimate Hike appeared first on CureSearch for Children's Cancer.

By Amy Rodriguez Ricabal –mother of a childhood cancer survivor, CureSearch supporter and childhood cancer advocate

This Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, we are encouraging supporters to share their stories in answer to the question, “Why Research?”. For Amy Rodriguez Ricabal, the answer is her daughter, Natalia. This is her story.

In August 2013, at the tender age of 8, my daughter, Natalia Sophia, was diagnosed with localized Ewing sarcoma of her femur bone. In addition to limb salvage surgery, she endured an intense chemotherapy regimen for a year and radiation treatments every day for a month. By the grace of God, she has overcome cancer and has been cancer-free for 60 months! But, due to antiquated, harsh cancer treatments, she is now battling the late effects of treatment.

Natalia underwent an intense regimen of five toxic agents as well as radiation and she is battling the effects of her treatment daily. Other children are battling secondary cancers caused by their treatments. There are many side effects from these too-toxic drugs–sadly, some children end up dying from organ system failure or some other disease developed from the treatment itself. 

Our family supports CureSearch because we need better funding for childhood cancer research. We need more kid-friendly drugs that target cancer cells with fewer side effects, not treatments for adults that are too toxic for their little bodies. That’s why we actively support CureSearch via the Tampa Bay CureSearch Walk. We walk in memory of the children who didn’t survive and for the health of every child battling cancer now and in the future.

Before my daughter’s diagnosis, I knew nothing about childhood cancer. Now that I have been pushed into this world, it is my calling to make others aware. More awareness means more funding. More funding leads to better medications and treatments for these children. They deserve a better outcome–a real chance at a promising future, not a future of doctor’s offices, surgeries, procedures or worse.

Show your support this Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Share your story on social media by using the hashtag #WhyResearch and tagging @CureSearch, or make a donation today.  

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For 30 years, CureSearch for Children’s Cancer has worked tirelessly to accelerate the development of new, less-toxic children’s cancer treatments, including a promising new treatment for the cancer that Natalia Sophia was stricken with – Ewing sarcoma. Learn more about the progress we are making thanks to the support of volunteers and advocates like Amy Rodriguez Ricabal.

The post Why Research? For one mother, the answer is simple appeared first on CureSearch for Children's Cancer.

News is in from America where exciting trial results for a hair loss drug have been announced by Concert Pharmaceuticals We take a closer look.

Hair Loss Trial Yields Results

Concert Pharmaceuticals, headquartered in Lexington, Mass, have announced that their hair loss drug delivers exciting trial results. 

It follows from their last official announcement in November 2018 when they gave us their first set of Phase 2 results. At that time we were given results for the 4mg and 8mg dose levels. In the conclusion was the teaser that the SALT score, the measure used for success, was sufficient to take the 8mg dose forward to Phase 3. All the more impressive because the patients, at the 24-week point, were still continuing to see an improvement in their condition.  At that time were also told we would have to wait a little longer for the results from the 12mg dose level. 

Hair Loss Drug CTP-453 

When Concert announced their results last November the promise of a cure for Alopecia Areata (AA) was teased. This is the unpleasant condition where sufferers can lose hair from anywhere on the body, but usually the scalp and usually in circular patches. An estimated 650,000 Americans are thought to be suffering at any one time. It is a condition that usually affects younger people. Current practice is to treat them with a series of painful corticosteroidal injections. Potentially dozens of them. So to say a new treatment is desperately required would be an understatement.

The Future For Hair Loss?

Concert has now delivered those 12mg trial results. The headline-grabbing quote here was that 78% of the patients on that relatively high dose experienced improvement. Improvement that they described as either ‘much improved’ or ‘very much improved.’ 

The current version of the treatment sees a pill taken twice a day. Itself a leap forward from injections that can only be tolerated for a while. 

For their part, Concert is now looking at a 16mg dose in an open-label phase 2 study. They are also working on a version where the patient only needs to take one pill a day… which would involve a single 16mg dose. 

The data of all these studies will be used to inform a meeting with the FDA. A meeting where Concert will be looking to plan the Phase 3 trial for 2020. 

HIS Hair Clinic

It is encouraging that every time Concert comes back to report their latest results things seem to have improved. It is clear their ambitions for CTP-453 have risen and we await their next announcement. Which will, we hope, be the fine details of a full Phase 3 trial. The FDA has designated AA as one of eight diseases that are to be given priority. In light of that, we can expect full support from them towards Concert as they look to expedite trials and move to production and marketing. 

If you would like to discuss your hair loss situation with one of our friendly team of experts simply complete the contact form at the side of this page, or click here to find your nearest clinic.

News from Australia reaches us that an LED hair loss cap has passed clinical trials. A full double-blind placebo-controlled trial no less. We look closer. 

LED Caps 

The theory behind using light to promote hair growth and combat hair loss is an interesting one. The idea is that low wavelengths of light can irradiate photons which can be absorbed by the cells. They have been around for years now and proved popular in the market. But this study marks the first time a hair loss cap has passed clinical trials, of the sort normally reserved for medicines.

Modern caps feature dozens of medical-grade lasers and LED’s to do the job of producing those photons. 

Early reactions to the advent of the LED caps were cool. While the FDA did approve them for use this was based more on their safety and ‘equivalence.’ Where ‘equivalence’ simply means that they are similar to devices that came before them. You will note the absence of a reference to efficacy. It is a recurring problem for hair loss sufferers that FDA approval for hair loss devices is often just referring to safety. 

A team in Australia have just raised the bar by publishing results of their own trial of one product. A product, incidentally, that the FDA approved back in February 2018.

Hair Loss Trial

The trials were conducted by a team from the University of Melbourne. Principal investigator, Rodney Sinclair MD, professor of medicine, outlined the parameters for the trial. “We used the same primary and secondary endpoints as were used in (the) finasteride and minoxidil studies. We used placebo caps. Participants and evaluators were blinded, and as an outcome, these results can be trusted.”

Even with the relatively small size of this study, with 18 participants, this is a refreshing approach. The cost, even for a small study, is prohibitive. 

Hair Loss Trial Results

No doubt cost was one reason why we have not seen a full clinical trial before. But there was always the possibility that the reason was a lack of faith in their efficacy. 

That doubt may have been removed with the publication of the Melbourne team’s results. 

All participants were given a cap to use for 10 minutes a day for 26 weeks. During this time they used no other hair loss product. Comparing the two groups, placebo and active, the group that received the treatment were shown to have better outcomes. To the tune of 21.3 more hairs per square centimetre. Those treated with the placebo cap continued to lose hair. No adverse effects were reported during the trial and no volunteers needed to cease treatment. 

HIS Hair Clinic

We have waited a long time for this sort of clinical trial to be applied to laser caps. The results were worth the wait too. Adding efficacy to the safety already confirmed by the FDA. We hope that as the technology develops alongside our understanding of the processes involved, the results improve further. We will be watching and reporting back. You can see the press release as published in Business Wire by clicking here. 

It seems a hair loss drug has made its way into a medication for infants. A hair loss drug that turned Spanish babies into werewolves. We look closer.

Infant Care

Bringing up a baby is a stressful business. In the time before a baby learns to speak, parents must master the art of reading signs that their child is unwell. Whizzing them round to the doctor for a second opinion is a regular trip for many. 

The babies caught up in this story all had something in common. They had been diagnosed with indigestion. For a lot of parents that simply means slinging said baby over your shoulder and tapping its back until the wind comes out. Presumably, these babies were suffering from something slightly more acute. They were all taken to see doctors, and they were all prescribed medication.

Hair Loss Drug In The Mix

The medication the babies were all put on was omeprazole. The drug was supplied by a company called Farma-Quimica Sut and was part of a formula for babies. 

16 babies given the drug developed a condition called hypertrichosis, also known as ‘werewolf syndrome’.  It sees the sufferer sprout hair from the face, in places where hair does not normally grow. 13 mums came forward in July with another 3 in August. 

Spanish health authorities removed the formula from the market and conducted an investigation. They discovered that the formula had been manufactured in India. During the production process, it had been contaminated with another medicine used to treat alopecia. 

Hairy Future?

The good news is that the condition, when not triggered by baby formula, is extremely rare and entirely treatable. Of course, that does depend on having access to the treatment.  See this article from earlier this year in the New York Post for an interview with three Indian sisters who do not have that access. For the babies involved in this case simply stopping giving them the formula that caused the problem will see it go away. 

HIS Hair Clinic

It must have been an incredibly distressing experience for these parents. Good to know that the cure is simply stopping the tainted formula. And that Farma-Quimica Sut have had their licence suspended. 

If you would like to discuss your hair loss situation with one of our team of friendly experts, simply complete our contact form on this page or click here to find your nearest clinic.

For the first time, a critical review of available data has been performed on plant-derived phytochemicals. It is time to ask the question, are phytochemicals the key to a hair loss cure?

What Are Phytochemicals?

To answer the question, are phytochemicals the key to a hair loss cure, we should first take a closer look at this ancient plant-based system. Broadly speaking, phytochemicals are chemicals produced by plants. Consider for a moment that every plant produces them and you will get an idea of their scale, diversity, and complexity. Plants produce them to aid with growth but also to fight off competitors and predators. They also play a role in fighting off pathogens that would otherwise kill the plant. 

Some have extremely familiar names, caffeine in our coffee and polyphenols in tea are examples. While the vast majority are obscure, some have already made their way into our hair loss world. Saw Palmetto has been used in the fight against hair loss for decades. Beyond hair-loss, phytochemicals are credited with being able to reduce our risk of developing chronic diseases. 

Efficacy On Scalp And Follicles

The lead author of this critical review, Gabriela Daniels from the Cosmetic Science Research Group based in London, set out with bold ambition. Using all available date from 1990 onward her team looked at every oral and topical phytochemical treatment aimed at hair loss. Caffeine and Saw Palmetto were on the list, but so were a surprising number of others. Who knew so much work had been done on so many different phytochemicals!

According to the authors, more studies need to be performed and the evaluation criteria can be improved. The good news is that this did not stop them arriving at some interesting conclusions.

Hair Loss Cure Hope?

The report concluded that all the phytochemicals that have been studied produced an improved understanding of the processes involved, they said  ‘…well documented pharmacological activities and pathways, which hair researchers have also identified as potential regulators of hair growth using cell and organotypic essays.’  

Top of the pile, for the authors, was a handful of chemicals which stood out. Caffeine, named in the report as the most widely studied, along with phenolic compounds and phytosterols were identified as the preferred choices. 

HIS Hair Clinic

The depth of the research that the team had to collate is as surprising as it is encouraging. Some, like caffeine, will have been familiar to all of us. Others, like pumpkin seeds, were surprising to see on the list. Still more were chemicals that were completely new to us. 

Highlighting just three phytochemicals as standing out will no doubt inform future research. As will the report’s conclusions around improving studies. They included ideas on combining vitro and in vitro results as well as more gender-specific studies. You can read the report for yourself by clicking here. 

If you would like to discuss your hair loss situation with one of our team of friendly experts, simply complete our contact form on this page or click here to find your nearest clinic.