LAIR Centre

Triple therapy for Hepatitis C

2011-04-06T23:22:00.000-07:00

It's not too far off, for the purpose of general information we will post a link to a recent article.

VanSun article

Having been involved with these studies LAIR Centre is excited at the potential these new drugs offer people with Hepatitis C.

RH

Clinical Pearls in Hepatology

2011-04-06T13:30:00.000-07:00

Helpful Hepatologic Tips for Primary Care

On February 23rd and March 2nd Dr. Edward Tam delivered an insightful presentation for helpful hepatologic tips for primary care. The delivery was precise, well thought out and received very well by those attending with many good questions following the presentation. It is always a pleasure to listen to deliveries that are dynamic and driven with tremendously helpful content!

Title slide

Dr. Edward Tam delivery an insightful and dynamic presentation

Dr. Edward Tam responding to questions from attendees

The venue was pleasant and it can be said that Seasons Restaurant at Queen Elizabeth Park has been a dependable venue when ambiance and quality matters. The food was excellent as usual with great service. The view was stunning with the shimmering lights of beautiful Vancouver on a rain free evening near breathtaking.

table setting providing ambience for a pleasant evening

Thank you to Dr. Anderson for the introduction, thank you to Dr. Tam for a tremendous presentation and the handouts and a big thank you to Wes and Jodi from Merck for making these educational evenings possible.

RH

LAIR on the web

2011-02-28T12:06:00.000-08:00

LAIR Centre has a Facebook page located at:
LAIR FACEBOOK PAGE

Frequent updates with helpful tips and general information are posted along with some questions and discussions planned. Take a look and if you have a Facebook account please "like" it!

RH

Coping With Fatigue

2011-01-28T17:22:00.000-08:00

Lori Lee, head liver nurse at the LAIR Centre talks about coping with fatigue in an article she wrote for issue #176 of The Inside Tract®. Highlights from the article are posted here but to read the full article contact www.badgut.org


Lori Lee Walston, RN

Everyone complains now and then of being tired. But what if you woke up every morning feeling as if you never got a moment of rest? Fatigue is a symptom commonly described by people with liver disease (hepatitis) and can be caused by a variety of other health problems. There is no magic medication, vitamin, or dietary change that will alleviate fatigue completely. There are certain strategies that may make the fatigue more bearable:

. Management (or treatment, if possible) of the cause of hepatitis, if it is present. This depends greatly on the type of hepatitis, which we reviewed in The Inside Tract® newsletter, issue #175.

. Treatment of secondary conditions such as anemai, sleep disorders, thyroid dysfunction, and depression. When properly monitored by a physician, these conditions will not contribute to the level of fatigue.

.Ask for help from family and friends. Activities such as housework, laundry, and shopping can be divided up easily and spread throughout the week.

.Alternative therapies, such as acupuncture, relaxation, meditation, and massage may help alleviate pain and diminish fatigue.

.Get adequate sleep. Wind down before bed; avoid caffeine, alcohol, and tobacco in the evening; and maintain a regular routine (i.e., go to bed every night at the same time and get up each morning at the same time).

. Eat a well-balanced diet that includes fruit, vegetables, whole grains, and protein. Avoid foods that are high in fat, sugar, and salt (sodium).

.Ensure an adequate water intake by drinking fluids throughout the day. Avoid caffeinated beverages, such as pop, tea, and coffee, as they deplete the body of required fluids.

. Regular exercise done more than 2 hours before bed promotes better quality sleep. Try different kinds of exercise, such as walking, biking, dancing, gardening, swimming, Tai Chi, or yoga.

.A positive attitude can be a very powerful ally when it comes to managing fatigue. It may help you cope more easily with the daily grind of life and the many obstacles that can often occur in life.

Learning to manage fatigue, and not letting it rule your life, will allow you to enjoy the activities of everyday life.

Thanks to Lori Lee for putting this together as a brief of her article in the newsletter.

-RH

2011

2011-01-27T17:14:00.000-08:00

Wishing everyone a tremendous 2011! January is almost over but it was important to recognize the new year and also post that we recognize 2010 was not exactly a populated year for our Blog. We have a goal to increase our information on the blog for 2011 and to revamp the website www.laircentre.com with new content. The new content for the website should be up soon, we are in the process of adding the new content (in conjunction with a new fresh look) and getting some updated photos for everyone.

RH

LAIR team at CDDW

2010-05-28T00:52:00.000-07:00

Every year LAIR has team members attend various meetings and conferences worldwide. February 26 2010 the majority of the LAIR clinical team left for Toronto to attend the Canadian Digestive Disease Week and the annual scientific conference of the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology (CAG) and the Canadian Association for the Study of the Liver (CASL).

From left to right: Lori Lee Walston, Nasim Eftekhari, Crystal Poley, Carolyn Klassen, Irene Wong and Dr. Frank Anderson.

Not exactly fun and games, it is an important part of continuing education with core conference programs offering both clinical and science sessions.

Showing LAIR dedication!

Nasim, Carolyn, Irene and Crystal in a photo op during the gala dinner.

Visiting our friends at the Lake Babine Nation

2010-05-12T00:33:00.000-07:00

Mid march Dr. Frank Anderson along with other members of the LAIR team and project partners, traveled to Burns Lake to meet with representatives of the Lake Babine Nation. Taking an early flight touching down at Smithers airport we quickly moved to rented vehicles and drove the distance to Burns Lake to meet with the representatives of the LBN at the band office.

-An aerial photo from the aircraft

-Arriving at Smithers airport

After sharing a lovely potlatch lunch with the members of the Lake Babine community, our group was able to meet everyone that was able to attend our workshop. Especially exciting was meeting our key liasons in our project. Dr. Frank Anderson had the opportunity to present data we had been working on together with Lake Babine Nation members and engage in a discussion with many questions and answers. With much appreciated input we had developed a direction to move the intiative forward.

Although enticed to stay a while and search for moose, sadly the team was pressed for time and in haste sped away towards the capital of the north, Prince George. Arriving just in time to return the rental vehicles and pass airport security, we had merely a few minutes to catch the last flight of the day back to Vancouver. Without a doubt an epic whirlwind tour of the beautiful and scenic northern part of our province, it was worth every minute. Stay tuned as this tremendous initiative develops!

RH

A quick break in Houston revealed the town had a gem we just had to see, the worlds largest fly fishing rod. Left to Right: Blago Savov of MDIT Innovations (LAIR technology partner), Carolyn Klassen and Rene Hahn of LAIR.

Carolyn (LAIR Hepatology Nurse) having fun while stretching our legs in Houston BC

What you MUST know about Hepatitis B

2009-12-01T00:41:00.000-08:00

November 28th 2009 marked an exciting event featuring a collaborative effort between Dr. Frank Anderson and the "Medical Students for Hepatitis B" from UBC that outlined key facts about Hepatitis B in a free public information session at the Sheraton Vancouver Airport Hotel. We wanted to take the opportunity here to thank the UBC medical students Simon, Alex, Angela and Gina for their incredible effort on the project and thank Dr. Anderson for a tremendously insightful look at Hepatitis B from a perspective that made it easy to understand for everyone. It was a brilliant stroke of timing as Dr. Anderson had recently returned from London England where he had attended Gastro 2009, a Global Collaboration for Gastroenterology which was a first/inaugural international conference bringing a fresh international perspective on the subject. You can read more at the EASL (European Association for the Study of the Liver) website at EASL LINK or simply search for Gastro 2009 to see all the organizations that combined for this conference.

We also want to thank Dr. Stuart Zeng for providing engaging translation, Michelle Chan for written translation and Daphne Hahn for organizing the event. It would not have been near the tremendous success it was without all of these people putting in their effort.

From left to right: Alex, Rene, Simon, Daphne, Gina, Angela, Dr. Anderson and Dr. Zeng.

Dr. Zeng translating the information.

Dr. Anderson and Dr. Zeng