LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ELENI TSIGAS

It's hard to imagine the impact that a public awareness event like The Promise Walk for Preeclampsia™ can have on the consciousness of the public, our elected officials, health care providers and researchers, but with 44 walks scheduled in major markets across the United States, we are making strides and delivering hope!

Ten years ago, I daresay not too many people had heard the word "preeclampsia."  Now the media often cover the latest research or provide helpful education, for example, CNN's February article on five things you need to know ...

It's March... which in Florida means spring training for Major League Baseball. In fact, I can practically hear the crack of the bat just ten minutes from our headquarters! But the real home runs are happening for the Preeclampsia Foundation all across the country. We're halfway to Preeclampsia Awareness Month, and our Promise Walk teams all across the United States are knocking it out of the ballpark! 

Fundraising teams have used our new tools and are doing a superb job, putting our Promise Walk $7,000 ahead of where we were last year. And not only will we be celebrating our first-ever national designation, but 16 states and cities have declared May Preeclampsia Awareness Month in their jurisdictions. Read on for an interesting article that describes why that is so important to our advocacy ...

Five weeks ago, the Preeclampsia Foundation led a historic gathering of nine companies, as well as some of the leading clinicians and researchers in the field of preeclampsia. We also had leaders and front line obstetricians from outside the "inner circle" to ensure we weren't doing too much naval gazing.

This Biomarker Consortium was evidence of several of our core values: we wanted to be influential, catalytic and bold. As the patient advocacy organization caring passionately about improving pregnancy outcomes, we were uniquely positioned to invite and get positive responses from every company who has or is investing in biomarkers as a more advanced technology to diagnose preeclampsia or screen pregnant women for future disease. 

I was energized by the ideas and commitment in the room, by the spirit of collaboration and the recognition that together we can do much to advance the momentum and attention on preeclampsia. A report is being developed ...

By Dr. Anne Wallis ~ Who remembers the first season ER episode "Love's Labours Lost"? The answer: pretty much anyone who ever watched ER! In the episode, a pregnant woman presents to the emergency room with a complaint of bladder problems, has a seizure and later dies. This was my first exposure to the hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. Eclampsia is, thankfully, rare, but it carries a high case fatality rate for the mother and/or the infant. Gestational hypertension and preeclampsia are far more common, affecting between 5% and 8% of all pregnancies in the US. Moreover, these conditions are on the rise and globally, these conditions are a leading cause of maternal and infant illness and death.

Obstetric providers are acutely aware of the dangers of preeclampsia because of its potential severity and rapidity of onset and progression, making high-quality prenatal ...

Principal Investigator Nihar R. Nayak, DVM, PhD, Stanford University, recently reported successful progress in his efforts to better understand the role of certain placental proteins in the development of preeclampsia. His 2011 Vision Grant research project aimed to see how proteins act in the placenta during preeclampsia. In Nayak's multi-stage investigation, he first needed to develop a new method using a mouse model system to study the roles of specific proteins in placental function and disease, as well as testing novel therapeutic approaches to preeclampsia. In his model, protein expressions can be seen in all stages of pregnancy.

Nayak's team has also developed a way to study how genes act in the placentas of mice. Genes play an important part in the development of the placenta during pregnancy. Better ways to see how abnormal genes act will help us learn more about what causes the amount of certain proteins to be higher ...

A recent Preeclampsia Foundation survey reveals that most women feel that books that provide complete and accurate information about preeclampsia would help them approach their pregnancies as empowered patients. The survey, conducted as a follow-up to the May release of the Preeclampsia Foundation's Report on the Top 10 Pregnancy Books, asked women about the pregnancy books they used during their pregnancies and about their feelings regarding the preeclampsia information contained in those books.

All respondents were entered into a contest to receive a signed copy of one of the top 3 books and a Preeclampsia Foundation gift basket. Congratulations go to Melissa S., Teri P., and Laura R. for winning the random drawing! 

Not surprisingly, the majority of respondents (69%) reported that they relied on the bestselling What to Expect When You're Expecting by Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel ...

Every two years, the International Society for the Study of Hypertension in Pregnancy (ISSHP) World Congress brings together the top researchers and clinicians in the field of hypertension in pregnancy to share innovations and encourage collaborations in research and clinical practice. As in year's past, the Preeclampsia Foundation participated in the 2012 meeting held July 9-12 in Geneva, Switzerland.

Like the current Olympics which inspire us to "Citius, Altius, Fortius" (Latin for "faster, higher, stronger"), the World Congress inspires participants to demonstrate new found knowledge and skills, and to push each other forward. In the enthusiasm of science-swapping and networking at a meeting like ISSHP, sometimes the larger purpose of our endeavors - saving lives and improving health outcomes of mothers and babies worldwide - may be forgotten by those racing from one intriguing lecture to the next.

That's where the Preeclampsia Foundation comes in. It is a ...

The hypertensive complications of pregnancy are divided into four distinct classifications: Preeclampsia/eclampsia, Chronic hypertension, preeclampsia superimposed on chronic hypertension, and gestational hypertension. Many people are perplexed by the term "superimposed preeclampsia" which is preeclampsia complicating hypertension of another cause, most commonly chronic or "essential" hypertension. However women with hypertension associated with ...

On May 24, 2012, the U.S. Senate passed the Food and Drug Safety and Innovation Act, which reauthorizes funding for activities related to the drug and device approval process at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).  The legislation also includes requirements and provisions for faster review of new and innovative therapies in order to allow patients to be able to access these therapies more quickly.  The next step is for the U.S. House of Representatives  to pass the bill, and then a final bill will go to the President for signature.

During debate on the Senate bill, Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) spoke on the necessity of finding ways to strengthen and improve the FDA’s review process of new and innovative diagnostic tests, including biomarkers. While biomarkers are not specifically addressed by the legislation, during his remarks, Senator Warner specifically cited preeclampsia as an example of why the country needs to move biomarkers forward and develop a ...

That was my goal with the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity I was given to present one of three President's Program lectures at the American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists' Annual Clinical Meeting.  

"Patient Perspectives on Preeclampsia" - or as I joked, "lessons from this side of the stirrups" - was well-received by the standing-room-only crowd in the main auditorium of the San Diego Convention Center.  More importantly, the many comments I received after the lecture satisfied me that I achieved my objective - to reach their hearts with compelling, real-life stories illustrating the impact preeclampsia has on mothers, fathers, and babies; and to reach their minds by inspiring clinical practice behaviors that include educating each and every expectant mother with non-alarmist, but sound information about the ...

Professors Chris Redman and Isabel Walker, co-authors of Pre-eclampsia: The Facts (Oxford University Press 1992) and co-founders of Action on Pre-eclampsia (APEC) in the UK, are seeking input from members of the Preeclampsia Foundation for their latest book, The Pre-eclampsia Survival Guide.

The new book, also co-authored by Joyce Cowan, a midwife who is Director of New Zealand APEC (NZAPEC), will be a comprehensive guide to pre-eclampsia for women and midwives. It will cover everything from historical theories to current treatments; from causation to detection; from prevention to management. It will be rooted very firmly in the real experiences of women who have suffered pre-eclampsia - and that's where you come in.

The authors are keen to illustrate their key points with real life case histories gathered from several different parts of the world. You could be part of this process by contributing to