For immediate release: May 9, 2008
Contact: Anne McMillin, APR
Office 775-682-9254
Mobile 702-292-4247
amcmillin@medicine.nevada.edu
Participants sought for allergy genetic disorder study
School of Medicine study now underway
RENO, Nev.— The University of Nevada School of Medicine’s Allergy Group is seeking participants for a clinical study on therapy for treatment of hereditary angioedema, a painful genetic disorder that causes swelling in the hands, feet, face, throat or intestinal tract.
“Hereditary angioedema is a rare condition with most allergists seeing only a couple of patients depending on the surrounding population size,” said Mary Beth Hogan, M.D., a board-certified specialist in pediatric allergy and immunology and a professor at the University of Nevada School of Medicine’s pediatrics department in Reno.
The condition is an inheritable illness consisting of swelling attacks which may take up to three or more days to resolve. These attacks may be life threatening if swelling occurs in the airway. Abdominal attacks are the most painful and often lead to nausea and vomiting caused by obstruction and swelling of the intestinal wall.
If you are 10 years old or older and have a documented diagnosis of hereditary angioedema, you may be eligible to participate in the study which is designed to determine if a new drug is capable of treating swelling attacks at the time of the attack so that episodes resolve quickly.
Study enrollment will continue for approximately six months and enrollees will have access to the drug post-study until it has completed the FDA approval process.
For more information on the study and to determine eligibility, contact Kathy Peele, study coordinator at (775)784-6522 or kpeele@medicine.nevada.edu
As the state’s only public medical school, the University of Nevada School of Medicine has been a leader in healthcare, medical education and research in Nevada since 1969. The School of Medicine includes 16 clinical departments including family medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, internal medicine, surgery, and psychiatry and behavioral sciences, and five nationally recognized departments in basic science including microbiology and biomedical engineering. The more than 185 doctors of University Health System, the school’s clinical practice, offer care in more than 40 medical specialties and subspecialties with eight physician offices in the Reno/Sparks area and seven in Las Vegas. The school is committed to a best practices approach to medicine and is dedicated to exceptional healthcare for Nevada now and in the future. For more information visit www.medicine.nevada.edu.