EU CPA on PKU and ESPKU join to launch a new campaign

gregor.hammerschmidt Cross Party Alliance

International PKU Day: European Parliament Cross-Party Alliance on PKU and ESPKU jointly launch campaign to ensure all rare disease patients continue to benefit from future innovation Today, International PKU Day, marks the launch of an advocacy campaign to ensure that the foreseen revision of the EU Orphan Medicinal Products (OMP) Regulation will continue to benefit all people living with rare diseases, including Phenylketonuria (PKU). This campaign is led by the European Parliament Cross-Party Alliance on PKU and the European Society for Phenylketonuria (ESPKU)[1]. Prior to the existence of the OMP Regulation, only 8 medicinal products were available for patients living …

E.S.PKU Patient Survey

gregor.hammerschmidt Announcements

Dear ESPKU Member Organisations I hope you are all well, and , on behalf of the ESPKU Board , thank you all, for your tremendous support for Ukrainian PKU patients. The ESPKU has embarked on a project to assess the differences between care recommended in the European Guidelines on the treatment for PKU- and the reality in care delivered in European Countries. We wish to identify gaps between the two if they exist. The findings will be analysed, peer reviewed and published in a reputable  scientific publication. We have developed a questionnaire for all PKU patients/carers to complete. The more responses …

In Memoriam – Professor Louis Isaac Woolf

gregor.hammerschmidt General

In MemoriamProfessor Louis Isaac Woolf, BSc, PhD, University College London 24 April 1919 – 7 February 2021 Professor Louis Isaac Woolf died aged 101 on 7 February 2021 in Vancouver, Canada, from a heart condition.  He is best known for developing his dietary treatment concept for phenylketonuria, PKU, based on a phenylalanine-depleted acid-treated milk protein.  In the late 1940s, when he was a biochemistry Research Fellow at Great Ormond Street Hospital, GOSH, in London, he had been pondering on possible treatments for the ‘untreatable, incurable’ PKU children seen there.  In what could now be considered translational research, a bridge between …

Rewatch the first E.S.PKU virtual conference now!

gregor.hammerschmidt Announcements, Conferences

We are happy to share with you the full video of the first ever virtual E.S.PKU conference. 2020 was a special year forcing us to not host our physical meeting in Spain but rather to have an online event instead. While this is not closely what a physical meeting can offer we think that we had a very interesting and smooth first online conference. In case you have missed it when it streamed live – you have now the unique chance to revisit the complete conference on our YouTube channel. Please also don’t forget to subsribe to our YouTube channel …

Vaccinations against COVID-19 and PKU

gregor.hammerschmidt Announcements

Covid-19 is a serious infectious disease which can cause severe complications, including death. It is important that we do everything we can to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and a global vaccination programme is a crucial part of this. It is imperative that everyone with PKU who can participate in the Covid-19 vaccination programme should do so. REMEMBER, COVID-19 IS NOT LIKE FLU. IT IS MORE CONTAGIOUS, MORE DEADLY, AND IS SPREADING ACROSS A WORLD WHERE NO-ONE IS IMMUNE. If you do develop Covid-19, as with other infections, it is likely to cause high blood phenylalanine levels due to the …

SHEILA – Unlocking the treatment for PKU

gregor.hammerschmidt Partners, Sheila Jones Award

SHEILA – UNLOCKING THE TREATMENT FOR PKU(Published by Brewin Books) By Anne Green In 1951, at two years of age, Sheila Jones was diagnosed with Phenylketonuria (PKU). With no treatment available, Sheila’s mother Mary persevered until she obtained help from three pioneering doctors at Birmingham Children’s Hospital. They worked tirelessly to prepare a special formula for Sheila making her the first person in the world to receive dietary treatment for PKU. In this new book to be published in October 2020 Anne tells the remarkable story of Sheila and her important legacy – the introduction of newborn screening and worldwide …

World Mental Health Day: Time to look at ‘hidden’ mental health aspects

gregor.hammerschmidt Cross Party Alliance

Authors: We are celebrating World Mental Health Day on 10 October. This provides a useful occasion to focus on the many aspects related to mental ill health – including how mental health can be a ‘hidden’ but important co-morbidity of other conditions which are normally not directly associated with mental ill health. Phenylketonuria (PKU) is such a condition. It is a rare, multi-faceted, complex and lifelong condition, with seriously challenging consequences for day-to-day living for those affected and their families and carers. It is usually regarded as a metabolic condition as, in essence, a particular liver enzyme (phenylalanine hydroxylase) is …

SAVE THIS DATE: November 1st, 2020 – Digital E.S.PKU Conference

gregor.hammerschmidt Conferences

SAVE THIS DATE: November 1st, 2020 Come together for the digital ESPKU Conference 2020! Due to the corona pandemic, this year it is impossible for ESPKU to run a face-to-face meeting with more than 500 people in Madrid, as initially planned. Nevertheless, the ESPKU Annual Conference will take place on Sunday, 1 November 2020: Digital, virtual, on the internet!  On this day, at 12:00 noon CET, the European PKU community will gather in front of their computers and smartphones. The virtual meeting will be accessible for patients and their relatives, patient’s representatives, healthcare providers and researchers from all over Europe …

The European Parliament Cross-Party Alliance on PKU

gregor.hammerschmidt General

ESPKU is in charge of coordinating the European Parliament Cross-Party Alliance on PKU , which was launched in March 2020 . What is the European Parliament Cross-Part Alliance in PKU? Cross-Party Alliances, more commonly known as Interest Groups, bring together MEPs interested in a specific issue that they would like to actively champion. In other words, these Alliances function as internal advocacy/pressure groups within the European Parliament. A wide variety of such groups is in existence, some more active than others; their influence can be sizeable as they can make use of various tools to put pressure – on the …

COVID-19 statement by E.S.PKU

gregor.hammerschmidt Announcements

Needs of Patients with rare disorders of protein metabolism must not be neglected! Currently, the main focus of all health systems is the global fight against Covid-19. However, the treatment requirements of patients with rare disorders of protein metabolism must not be neglected. Phenylketonuria (PKU) and other rare disorders of protein metabolism require early diagnoses and immediate treatment. If left untreated, PKU causes severe mental and physical retardation. Effects on other diseases, such as Tyrosinemia or Maple Syrup Urea Disease (MSUD), can be potentially fatal. Neonatal screening must continue for every baby born. This is essential for timely diagnoses and …