Pucker Up 4 PAH

Wednesday November 17, 2010

Give us a blue-lipped kiss - and learn more about PAH (Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension)

This November, use your lips to pucker up and talk about Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH), an uncommon but life-threatening disease.

PuckerUp4PH is a global awareness-raising campaign born out of the UK and now is a global initiative. The 2010 aim is to help set a new Guinness World Record by obtaining 40,000 blue lip stick prints from people around the world™.

Blue lips is an inspirational motif for PuckerUP4PH as blue lips, or cyanosis as it's medically termed, can be a symptom of PAH.

In Australia, world-leading PAH researcher Professor Anne Keogh Senior Heart Transplant Cardiologist and Joint Head Clinical Research Victor Chang Research Institute at St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney will support the initiative with the aim of educating Australians about PAH and PuckerUp4PH during the week of November 15.

PHA Australia, the organisation representing PAH patients in Australia, endorses this campaign and encourages all Australians to pucker up for PAH.

Joan Godber, President, PHA Australia believes "the PuckerUp4PH campaign will help to raise vital awareness of PAH around the world as well as provide much-needed understanding of the disease here in Australia."

It's estimated that there are currently 100,000 people worldwide with PAH.

PAH symptoms can include breathlessness and fatigue in addition to the blue lips. Breathlessness is a key symptom of PAH and is often what causes people to seek treatment.

Professor Anne Keogh, explains PAH.

"PAH is a devastating disease characterised by high blood pressure in the pulmonary arteries leading to heart failure, even death. It is marked by elevated blood pressure in the lung's arteries, putting pressure on the heart and reducing the amount of oxygen able to reach the tissues of the body. It leads to breathlessness which often leaves patients with the inability to exercise or do even the simplest tasks. Without treatment and the proper medication, the prognosis is not good.

"PAH can affect males and females, adults and children, of all ages and ethnic backgrounds. But it does seem to be most common in those aged between 20-40 years and there are nearly twice as many females as males with the condition.

"PAH is often misdiagnosed and often symptoms do not become apparent until the disease has advanced. In the early stages of PAH, symptoms and signs can be confused with other conditions affecting the heart and lungs like asthma. A number of tests can be used to assist in the diagnosis of PAH with the definitive test being a right heart catheterisation. Navigating a patient through a battery of tests can be a difficult journey."

Due to the non-specific nature of the symptoms, PAH is most frequently diagnosed when patients have reached an advanced state of the disease (WHO functional Class III and IV) iii, suggesting that the true prevalence may be higher than documented in the literature.

However, Professor Keogh is extremely hopeful.

"Currently there are very effective treatments available to help PAH patients manage their quality of life. Of course everyone reacts differently, which is why there are a number of different medications and clinical trials are taking place all the time. We're feeling more positive about PAH treatment now."

In Australia the PuckerUp4PH campaign is supported by PHA Australia, Professor Anne Keogh and Pfizer Australia.

For more information, please visit:

www.phaaustralia.com.au

www.phnsw.org.au

www.lungfoundation.com.au