Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Release: Latest Fragile X Syndrome Research And Treatments Discussed At Live Web Cast - Those Affected Include Children With Mild Learning Disabilities To Those With Severe Mental Retardation
PITTSBURGH, Dec. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Children with Fragile X Syndrome have widely varying degrees of symptoms ranging from mild learning disabilities, to mental retardation and autism, and often are misdiagnosed. Although there is no cure for Fragile X, new treatments and research efforts are being made to help relieve, and in some cases alleviate, the symptoms.
Nationally known Fragile X Syndrome expert, Randi Jenssen Hagerman, MD, FAAP, will discuss the latest research, advocacy and treatment efforts.
Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, along with the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics and Center for Continuing Education in the Health Sciences, is hosting this special continuing medical education event. This event also will be available via live Web cast on Children's Web site, http://www.chp.edu/fragilex, at 8 a.m. Dec. 15, 2005.
Dr. Hagerman is the Medical Director, MIND Institute, Tsakopoulos - Vismara Chair in Pediatrics at the University of California Davis Medical Center, Sacramento, Calif. She has more than 20 years of clinical and research experience, and has focused on molecular clinical correlations and treatment endeavors of this disorder. Two books she has authored are a third edition of Fragile X Syndrome: Diagnosis, Treatment and Research, and Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Diagnosis and Treatment, which covers a broad array of disorders that impact cognitive development and behavior and documents multidisciplinary interventions including medical, psychopharmacological and educational treatments.
Dr. Hagerman co-founded the National Fragile X Foundation in Denver in 1984. She sits on its board and its Scientific and Clinical Advisory Committee. She also is a scientific adviser to the Conquer Fragile X Foundation and is on the Advisory Board of the Northern and Southern California Fragile X Associations.
Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh's Fragile X Syndrome Center established the first national registry of Fragile X patients in 2003, which allows for treatment studies and a more thorough review of symptoms to be complete. Establishing this center is leading to earlier detection of patients with Fragile X, thereby allowing Children's physicians to coordinate treatment sooner to improve behavioral symptoms and learning disabilities.
Medical professionals may be eligible to receive CME Credit.
Registration for the live Web cast, and the post-event archived session, will be available on Children's Web site at http://www.chp.edu/fragilex. A VNR is available at http://www.or-live.com/rams/cpi-1551-mkw-q.ram.
Pittsburgh
Children's Hospital ofCONTACT: Melanie Finnigan, +1-412-692-5016, or +1-412-692-5502, orMelanie.Finnigan@chp.edu, or Marc Lukasiak, +1-412-692-5016, or+1-412-692-7919, or Marc.Lukasiak@chp.edu, both of Children's Hospital ofPittsburgh