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Health & Fitness

What a Relief, Third Annual Benefit to Help Patients with Scleroderma

A benefit on June 3 with music, food, drink and fun at St. Luke's Hospital to benefit patients with Scleroderma.

The Relief Foundation and St. Luke’s Hospital are hosting What a Relief, a fun and educational event to raise funds and promote awareness for patients living with Scleroderma, a rare autoimmune disease. This third annual benefit will be held on Monday, June 3, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m., at St. Luke's Hospital Institute for Health Education, 232 S. Woods Mill Rd, St. Louis, MO, 63017. The public is welcome and encouraged to attend. Tickets are $75 a person and include guest speaker Dr. Richard K. Burt, M. D., emcee Victoria Babu from KTRS, a silent and live auction, gourmet buffet and cocktails and live entertainment by Coco Soul.

Kelly J. Ellison, founder and CEO of The Relief Foundation, said, “What a Relief makes an impact by assisting people and their families cover the cost of vital medication, treatment and daily living expenses. In addition, The Relief Foundation uses the funds raised from the benefit to send patients to the Scleroderma Foundation's National Patient Education Conference.”

Register online at http://www.relief-foundation.org by May 24, 2013. For more information, call 314-497-0040 or 314-610-5616.

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Scleroderma (skleer-oh-Dur-muh) comes from the Greek words: sclera, hard, and derma, skin.  In the simplest of terms, Scleroderma is an overproduction of collagen that can result in the thickening or tightening of skin and scarring of internal organs. It often affects mobility and can lead to death from lung, heart and gastrointestinal complications. This disease knows no age boundaries, as it affects children and adults and makes daily living difficult. Patients with Scleroderma may have trouble brushing their teeth, holding a pencil, tying their shoes and opening a door.  The Relief Foundation uses funds to help patients with the high cost of medical bills and living expenses.

Guest speaker Dr. Richard Burt, MD, is chief of the Division of Immunotherapy and Autoimmune Disease, Department of Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Dr. Burt pioneered the use of hematopoietic stem cells to treat autoimmune diseases. He is the leader of randomized controlled trials currently ongoing in America for Lupus, Crohn's disease, Multiple Sclerosis, and Systemic Scleroderma.

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As a Fellow working at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Dr. Richard Burt thought: If we could get bad, diseased cells to lose their memory, we could reprogram them with “good” memories and help patients with autoimmune diseases. According to http://www.stemcellresearchfacts.org:  “This reprogramming would depend on adult stem cells—tiny building blocks found in the body—if it was going to work.”   Fourteen years later, Dr. Burt and his research team at Northwestern University are using this technique to treat twenty-three different diseases, including Scleroderma.  

Scleroderma is often misdiagnosed as other heart, lung, skin or kidney disorders.  Oftentimes, it goes undiagnosed and is not accurately diagnosed until the disease has progressed beyond recovery, resulting in severe disability and even death. Today, there is no known cause or cure, but current research is yielding more effective treatments, such as Dr. Burt’s.  About 300,000 women, men and children have Scleroderma in the United States.

Emcee Victoria Babu from KTRS 550 AM radio was diagnosed with Scleroderma four years ago, and is a big supporter of The Relief Foundation and their events.

Entertainer Coco Soul is a singer, songwriter, musician, actress and vocal coach in the St. Louis area. She was voted “Best R&B Singer” by “Riverfront Times” in 2005 and the Budweiser Superfest Winner in 2010.

“I was diagnosed with Scleroderma in 2007 and I know first-hand the devastation of having this disease,” Ellison said. “It has become my passion to help those who receive this diagnosis and are living with Scleroderma as I am, to access the information and resources necessary to improve their quality of life.”

June is Scleroderma Awareness Month. At What a Relief, two individuals living courageously with Scleroderma will be awarded the Heart of Relief award.

Over the last two years, The Relief Foundation has raised approximately $50,000 through events, such as What a Relief, Macy’s Shop for a Cause, Par for Relief annual golf tournament, and online donations.

 

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