Monday, July 7, 2008

Palestinian Boys Journey witht Maroteux-Lamy



His name is Amro and he was born in Palestine in Hebron. He was born with a disease called Maroteux-Lamy Syndrome. Patients with MPS VI lack an enzyme that breaks down a complex sugar (glycosaminoglycan). Without the enzyme the sugar remains in the cells and accumulates and causes connective tissue damage. The skeleton is most affected and heart valves, spleen liver and cornea. Children with this disease tend towards small stature. Childrens Hospital Oakland had had the first clinical trial of the drug Naglazyme in 2005. The food and drug administration approved Naglazyme for us in children ages five years and older. Childrens Oakand is the only site in the US and only one in three in the world doing early intervention trials. The drug is produced by a Novato based pharmaceutical company called BioMartin.


Amro was found living in Hebron and doctors from Hadassah hospital referred him to Childrens.


Amro and his father are living in Oakland while Amro undergoes treatment.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Russia opens first Muslim Clinic


With Koranic scriptures adorning its walls, Russia's first Muslim clinic opened in Moscow this week, hailed by religious leaders as a sign of greater respect for Islam.
After cutting the red ribbon at the entrance of the gleaming modern facility in Moscow's industrial southeast, Grand Mufti Sheikh Ravil Gainutdin described the opening of the Muslim clinic as a "historic event". "The international community can now see that in multinational and multi-faith Russia every citizen has the right to health services," Gainutdin said at an official ceremony on Thursday. Run by some 50 doctors and nurses, the Muslim clinic occupies one floor of the Price Quality (Tsena Kachetsvo) private health care centre in southeast Moscow and offers a prayer hall, an ablution room and snack bar of halal foods. Dressed in white headscarves and loose-fitting tunics and trousers, nurses and female doctors carry out examinations of women in the presence of husbands or other women. Men are treated by male staff in a separate section. "What's important here is the atmosphere," said Syrian doctor Kadir Makhmud. "As you can see the women dress modestly, there is a place to pray, this is all important for Muslims." "I would say that this was very much needed for the Muslim community," said Makhmud, who has worked in several foreign-run clinics in Moscow since he moved to Russia from Syria two years ago. While it seeks to cater to Moscow's million-plus Muslims, the clinic more specifically targets the diplomatic community from the Middle East and Gulf countries who have been returning home for medical care.