Deanaland

Friday, April 08, 2011

Hope for Hyperemesis

Some of you know that Julia, Jenna and I are survivors of a debilitating and life-threatening pregnancy complication known as hyperemesis gravidarum. If you don’t know what that is, you can click here for more information. That’s the website for the HER Foundation, which was started by my friend and fellow HG survivor, Kimber MacGibbon. Kimber was a guest on the Dr. Phil show a couple of years ago for a segment on HG. She has put a lot of work into the HER Foundation and made it a valuable resource for HG sufferers, their families and health professionals.

For years, many HG survivors have believed more research should be done to find a cause and cure or at least lessen the devastating effects of HG. Recently, our prayers have been answered: The Department of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at the University of Southern California and the Department of Medicine at UCLA are conducting a study to identify the genes and risk factors of HG. I’ve been contacted about this study and have agreed to participate in it.

The study still needs participants. They need women who have had HG, and they also need a control group of women who have been pregnant with no HG. For the control group, they need women who have NOT had HG and who have had at least two pregnancies that went beyond 27 weeks.

If you are not sure if the nausea/vomiting you experienced in pregnancy was morning sickness or HG, this can help you out.

Please consider being a part of this study. This research could provide the answers that HG sufferers and their families have needed for years. For some women, the HG becomes so severe that they must terminate (very much wanted) pregnancies to save their own lives. This was not the case with me, but it could have been and it is a reality for many women.

If you live in the U.S. and are interested in participating, either as an HG survivor or non-HG participant, please contact please contact Marlena Schoenberg Fejzo, PhD at nvpstudy@usc.edu or 310-210-0802.

Here’s more info on the study:

Help Find a Cure for HG

HG Genetic Study Needs Participants!

USC & UCLA are close to meeting their goal of 1,000 participants. The goal of this study is to understand the etiology of Hyperemesis Gravidarum so we can develop better treatments and improve the quality of life for patients suffering from HG and their offspring. (More information... or contact nvpstudy@usc.edu )

Current 2007-2012 Study: Genetics of Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG)

This study is designed to identify individuals affected with HG, to study epidemiologic factors via an online survey, to collect DNA samples from saliva through the mail at no cost or travel for you, and to search for genes and risk factors that may be potentially associated with this condition. To be eligible, you must have suffered from HG and had treatment for your HG that includes i.v. hydration, TPN or other form of non-oral feeding (ie nasogastric feeding), OR both, and are able to recruit a friend with at least 2 pregnancies who has NOT suffered from HG to serve as a control. If you live in the United States and are interested, please contact Marlena Schoenberg Fejzo, PhD at nvpstudy@usc.edu or 310-210-0802. Download the USC/UCLA Consent Form (804 Kb PDF) for more details about the study.

Identification of genes and risk factors that contribute to HG will lead to a better understanding of the causes of severe nausea and vomiting of pregnancy, and should be a first step toward the development of more effective treatments or a cure for this devastating disease. To learn more about why Marlena is devoted to finding the cause of HG and information about participating in the study watch Marlena's youtube.com video here.

Identification of genes and risk factors that contribute to HG will lead to a better understanding of the causes of severe nausea and vomiting of pregnancy, and should be a first step toward the development of more effective treatments or a cure for this devastating disease.

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