When Kayla Dehnert tells friends and family in Northern California about life as a St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital patient, she pulls out a string of beads taller than she is.
Kayla, 8, of Novato, Calif., is one of hundreds of St. Jude patients who have participated in the hospital’s Legacy Bead program since its launch in 2009. The program offers patients and their families a tangible way to illustrate their journeys using 55 glass beads as unique as the children who collect them. Patients receive vivid green cylindrical beads for blood transfusions; sapphire round beads for lumbar punctures; tear-drop beads in assorted colors for homesickness; and blue, triangle-shaped beads for clinic visits. Other beads mark triumphs such as the completion of radiation or chemotherapy or challenges ranging from cancer’s return to the death of a friend.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/58137-st-jude-legacy-bead-program-treatment-milestones-for-children
Blood is an essential component for life, but many people do not think about it until the need is critical. Each year 234 million major operations are performed worldwide, many involving blood transfusions or treatments resulting in a continuous need for donations.
That’s why Abbott (NYSE: ABT) and Real Madrid soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo are partnering to bring even more attention to this important cause. Regarded as one of the top soccer players in the world, Ronaldo will serve as the first global ambassador for the BE THE 1™ movement – developed to inspire young people around the world to regularly donate blood.
“We can all make a difference by donating blood. Each donation can benefit up to three people in emergency situations and for long-term medical treatments,” said Cristiano Ronaldo, forward for Real Madrid and Captain for Portugal National Football. “That’s why I am enthusiastic to be partnering with Abbott to bring awareness to the importance of blood donation and to encourage people around the world to become lifelong blood donors and help save lives.”
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7668251-abbott-cristiano-ronaldo-donate-blood/
Novartis announced today that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Jadenu™ (deferasirox) tablets, a new oral formulation of Exjade® (deferasirox) tablets for oral suspension, for the treatment of chronic iron overload due to blood transfusions in patients 2 years of age and older, and chronic iron overload in non-transfusion-dependent thalassemia syndromes (NTDT) in patients 10 years of age and older. Jadenu is the only once-daily oral iron chelator that can be swallowed whole.
To view the Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7440151-novartis-jadenu-fda-approval/
