Did you know that May 12^th was chosen for International Awareness Day for Chronic Immunological and Neurological Diseases (CIND) because it’s also Florence Nightingale’s birthday? She was a statistician, social reformer and is credited as the founder of modern nursing. It’s also believed that she suffered from Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS). That’s just one of the several conditions highlighted on International Awareness Day. Some others are…

• Fibromyalgia (FM)
• Gulf War Syndrome (GWS)
• Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MSC)
• Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS)
• Lyme disease

May12.org is hosting a 2013 Awareness campaign on their Facebook page that you can participate in right from home. They’re also encouraging everyone to help spread the word by calling local representatives and asking family members to participate.

Ladies, we know your lives get busy.  So why not pull out your calendar or smartphone right now and see if you’re due for a visit to your health care providers?  You’ll be doing your part for National Women’s Checkup Day (observed today, Monday, May 14th), an annual event that’s part of National Women’s Health Week.

Checkup Day encourages women to get regular checkups that are vital to the early detection of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, mental illnesses, sexually transmitted infections and other conditions.  The reason is simple.  Women often serve as the caregivers for their partners, children and parents. As a result, their own well-being can be secondary at times.  The theme of National Women’s Health Week 2012 – “It’s Your Time” – speaks to the fact that women need to prioritize their own health as well.

Not sure what preventative screenings are recommended for you?  Check out this handy chart organized by age group.  Then take the Checkup Day pledge along with women around the country to get at least one recommended screening during May. If you’re concerned about cost, you should know that all recommended preventative screenings – such as mammograms, colon cancer screenings, Pap screenings and well-woman visits – are now covered by your insurance plan with no out-of-pocket costs.

But scheduling an appointment may just be the first step.  If you’re looking to get healthy in 2012, why not do it with the help of a community?  The 2012 WOMAN Challenge offers an online platform for tracking your nutrition goals and daily activity.  The challenge is to follow through with planned nutrition changes and be active 30 minutes a day, at least five days a week, for six out of eight weeks.  Register here to get started.

If you’re a woman living with a health condition, you can also find a community of women right here at PatientsLikeMe.  We have 70,995 female members who are sharing how they are managing more than 1,000 different conditions, including fibromyalgia, endometriosis, menopause, infertility and postpartum depression.  Take control of your condition with the help of women just like you today.

Do you suffer from nerve sensitivity – or a feeling akin to pins and needles?  Known clinically as paresthesia, this uncomfortable sensation if often described as a tingling, pricking and/or creeping feeling.  For some people with nerve sensitivity, it can be painful for clothing to touch your skin.  Although there is no objective causes, nerve sensitivity is usually associated with injury or irritation of a sensory nerve or nerve root.

At PatientsLikeMe, where more than 130,000 patients are sharing their experiences with all types of treatments including prescription drugs, over-the-counter drugs and supplements, 36 patients current report experiencing nerve sensitivity.  Their primary health conditions range from multiple sclerosis (MS) to fibromyalgia to complex regional pain syndrome type 1.  What can we learn from their experience?  Quite a bit, actually, thanks to PatientsLikeMe’s unique data-sharing platform.

For example, this symptom has a major impact on daily life, as more than two thirds rate their nerve sensitivity as severe (12 patients) or moderate (18 patients).  What are they doing to cope?  Some of the commonly reported treatments for nerve sensitivity include Potassium, Gabapentin, Neurontin and Zonisamide.  (Click on each treatment name to see how our patients rate the effectiveness, side effects, cost and more.)

JOIN PATIENTSLIKEME TODAY

Are you living with nerve sensitivity?  Don’t go it alone.  Join PatientsLikeMe and add your experiences to our growing body of knowledge.  Then, stay to exchange advice and support, research common treatments and learn from other patients like you.

Now that PatientsLikeMe is open to any patient with any condition, we’ve noticed more patients with different conditions sharing similar lifestyle modifications. One example is the use of a service dog.

What are the benefits – both expected and unexpected – of a four-legged assistant?  We asked some of our members to talk about their service dogs’ best qualities.

The Uncanny Seizure Predictor

• “[My seizure dog Mandy] has awakened me two times just as a seizure was about to start. I don’t know how she does it but she does. In fact, I had a seizure outside once (doesn’t happen often), and Mandy ran to a neighbor’s house and barked until they came to me.” - Mandysmother (Epilepsy patient)

The Sensitive Tear Licker

• “He is my balance dog. He knows when I am about to have a migraine or a seizure and he even knows when I am hurting. Isn’t that funny? He licks my tears when I am crying, and he knows when to stay away from me.”  - Some1Special (Mental Health and Behavior patient)

The Good-Humored Mind Reader

• “[My service dog Mali] was the best decision I ever made. With her I now have some of my independence again, and for a woman who used to climb mountains and water ski, going to the store again after years never going anywhere alone, this means the world to me. The fact that Mali has a sense of humor and seems to read my mind is only another blessing to go along with my newfound freedom.” - Anahit (Fibromyalgia patient)

The Anti-Tripping Companion

• “My neurologist thinks the service dog is preventing my gait from freezing! (When he heels, he constantly moves his head near my knee to check for a command.) I haven’t ended up on the ground or floor since I got him. He is great company! He is always willing to join me on my ’5 miles/day,’ and since I got him, no one has mistaken my Parkinson’s for being intoxicated!”
  - FriendlyTraveler (Parkinson’s disease patient)

Do you have an outstanding service dog too?  Share your experiences in the comments section and don’t forget to add “service dog” to your list of lifestyle modifications.

Are you on a lectin-free diet?  Trade notes on this dietary intervention at PatientsLikeMe, where more than 120,000 patients are sharing their experiences with treatments, supplements, lifestyle modifications and more.

But first, let’s talk about lectins, which are sugar-binding proteins that mimic insulin. Lectins bind to carbohydrates and various proteins, causing inflammation. As a result, they have been linked with autoimmune disorders such as IBS, Crohn’s disease and fibromyalgia.  To help fight this inflammatory process, a lectin-free diet restricts certain things like grains, nightshades (i.e. peppers, tomatoes, potatoes), legumes (i.e. beans) and some starches.  While most foods contain some amount of lectins, these food groups are considered the “worst offenders.”

What kinds of data points can you share about a lectin-free diet at PatientsLikeMe?  Thanks to our unique data-sharing platform, you can share detailed information on this diet’s effectiveness, side effects, cost and more.  You can also offer freeform tips and advice to others considering the diet and report what health condition(s) you are attempting to treat.   Whether you’ve found a lectin-free diet helpful in controlling inflammation or you’ve discontinued it for various reasons, your story will provide valuable insight to those who are searching for answers.

JOIN PATIENTSLIKEME TODAY

Have you tried a lectin-free diet?  Join PatientsLikeMe and add your experiences to our growing body of knowledge.  Then, stay to exchange advice and support, research common treatments and learn from other patients like you.

The PatientsLikeMe research and development (R&D) team is excited about what we can all share and learn in 2011.  Here’s a look back at some of what patients like you shared with us, and what we then shared with the world, in 2010.

The R&D team published and presented some unprecedented insights based on what you shared with us this year.  In addition to attending and presenting at some noteworthy conferences in 2010, we also published a series of blogs and podcasts pulled together just for you.

Based on your feedback, the R&D team also implemented some changes to the medical architecture that will help improve the research we do, as well as your experience as a patient on the site.  Ultimately, we are working to develop tools that help you answer the question: “Given my status, what is the best outcome I can hope to achieve and how do I get there?”

Today and tomorrow, we’ll be highlighting some of the work we’ve done in 2010 focused on various communities.  Today, we start with the following (listed from newest to oldest community):

Organ Transplants

• Researcher Catherine Brownstein MPH, Ph.D. presented a poster at the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) Renal Week in Denver. We compared the profile of our Transplants Community to published data from the UNOS/OPTN databases and found that about half of our patients knew about the exact degree of tissue matching they had with their donor. We found the fewest mismatches in organs that had come from deceased, rather than living donors. We also found that within the living donors the closest matches came from siblings, followed by parents, children, and then any other relative.

Epilepsy

• In December, the team attended the annual American Epilepsy Society (AES) conference and presented a poster comparing our data to the Pharmetrics insurance claims database. We found that our Epilepsy Community is a little more likely to be female, more likely to be in their 20s-40s, and that they are more likely to be taking multiple anti-epileptic drugs than the broader epilepsy population. Exploring the biases in our data set and being transparent about them is one of our core values as a science team.
• PatientsLikeMe is running an ongoing patient-reported outcomes (PRO) study with UCB to measure the physical, social and mental well-being of people with epilepsy over time. By the end of 2010, members of our Epilepsy Community had completed more than 1,300 PRO surveys. Thanks to all of you who contributed.

Fibromyalgia

• The R&D team recently blogged about a report comparing our Fibromyalgia Community to the wider fibromyalgia population and revealed we are now able to declare with confidence that our community very closely matches the fibromyalgia community at large.
• In 2010, we published a study entitled “Sharing Health Data for Better Outcomes on PatientsLikeMe” in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR). The study, conducted across several of our communities, established a link between sharing health data and benefits experienced on our site. The fibromyalgia-specific findings were that 21% of fibromyalgia members of our site strongly agreed or agreed that they had changed physicians as a result of using PatientsLikeMe, higher than the rate in MS (15%), mood (10%), Parkinson’s (9%), HIV (8%), or ALS (6%).
• In response to popular demand for more research in fibromyalgia, the R&D team has also started reaching out to members of the scientific community to design research studies to take place in early 2011.

Mood

• Looking again at the JMIR study specifically within the Mood Community, we found 26% of users agreed or strongly agreed that using the site had reduced thoughts about self harm; 23% agreed they had decided to start therapy or counseling after interacting with others on the site; and 22% agreed they needed less inpatient care as a result of using PatientsLikeMe.  Here’s a video where I present some of these results, and give a walk-through of the Mood Community, at the UMASS Medical School’s Psychiatry Grand Rounds this year.
• We also recently introduced a new tool in all of our communities called “InstantMe” to help you put your experiences in context.  Based on the feedback we received from members of our mood community about the pilot tool (called “InstantMood”), it is now available for everybody.
• In response to popular demand for more research in mood, the R&D team has also started reaching out to members of the scientific community to design research studies to take place in early 2011.

More highlights, including a video, coming tomorrow.

In December community newsletters (launched earlier this week), we asked some of our members to think about what they’ve shared and compared in 2010.  Below are highlighted answers from each interviewee across all nine community newsletters.  Thank you for your contributions.

We also want to thank all of you who have contributed to the 90 newsletters we ran this year, including the newly launched ones in our Epilepsy and Transplants communities.  Finally, a special thanks goes out to our newsletter writer, Amy Morton, for pulling these together every month.

To review all of our newsletters, you can visit our archives page here.

* * *

	(Amy) How has PatientsLikeMe helped you learn and share this year?
	(Tommy Maker – ALS Community) PatientsLikeMe has provided me with new friends-people who are experiencing the same problems as I am. I’ve learned that there isn’t a single question that won’t get a vast myriad of answers from the community. I’ve learned that we’re all very different people, and I’ve learned we don’t always agree.  I’ve learned that we all care enormously for each other and are very eager to help those who find themselves in the same boat as we are. But most of all I’ve learned that I am not on my own.  I’m not the only one facing a bleak future and not the only one who is able to appreciate what he has at the moment.
	(cobebu8 – MS Community) I really like it here in that I can keep track of all my meds with their side effects, etc.  Plus I like it that I can list symptoms and have a history of all of it to review and learn from and share with my doctors. I hope that my input on meds, therapies, etc., helps other people. It is good not to be alone.
	(mountain lady – Parkinson’s Disease Community) It has given me the experience of reading about others who are in situations similar to mine.  It has shown me that I am not alone.  I love reading the newsletters and the comments from other readers. It also helps to keep me up-to-date on any new suggestions or treatments. Also, I became acquainted with someone online through PatientsLikeMe.  We actually live in the same town, both work in the field of Education and have had Parkinson’s for the same length of time.  Getting together with her was a pleasure, and she introduced me to the idea of meeting with a support group, which I had never done before.
	(ellieGADsufferer – Mood Conditions Community) It is invaluable. I find the Symptoms and Treatments areas so helpful. I have learned (from genuine people who are taking these meds) that some of my “quirky” side effects and sufferings from the meds I take can and do happen to others and are not imaginary.  (My general practitioner and Consultant just brush the list aside and shrug their shoulders). I have learned that I am not alone with my illnesses, which is good to know, and I have also learned that there is “light at the end of the tunnel.”  I try to keep my profile as up to date as possible in the hope that it will be helpful to at least one or two members. I rate my Daily Mood [now called InstantMe] at least five days per week and always complete my Mood Map, again for the same reasons. Well done PatientsLikeMe and its members. Keep going, you are doing really good work and long may it continue.
	(andrewn78 – HIV Community) I love organization and having PatientsLikeMe help me to organize all of my medical information. I would like to have an ability to log simple notes on the PatientsLikeMe profile so every time I go to my doctor I can make some general notes (if needed) for that visit on my experience and what was covered with my provider. (Note that all users can now use InstantMe to add notes/annotations to your Doctor Visit Sheet)
	(Nates-Sweetpea – Fibromyalgia/CFS Community) PatientsLikeMe has been such an encouragement to me, not only in what others have given to me through sharing their stories, but also by opening up a window for me to be an encourager also. I love the newsletters that are super reminders of how to not get off track, and also how to be good to myself.
	(kg10043 – Epilepsy Community) I think I have been pretty good at sharing, but this has been one new method, especially with some of the health issues with others facing similar situations. In the past I have answered questions for people who had their first seizure or just questions, but with this site, I am able to communicate with others who have had the same operations, take the same medications, etc., and really understand things better (from a different perspective).
	(kidneygirl1198and0505 – Transplants Community) PatientsLikeMe has helped me so incredibly much!  I’ve made so many friends that I thank God for every day.  It’s just like, no matter what you have or haven’t had transplanted, whichever organ you need or have, everyone on here understands you and what you’re going through. I just really hope that people can say that about me.  It took me awhile, but no one is alone out there.  Everyone is going through their own personal struggles.  I just want everyone to know I am all ears!

This week’s “Treat Us Right” theme focused a lot on the sentiments and data you share every day to help others learn more about your real-world experiences.  We, at PatientsLikeMe, also like to just check in to see how you’re doing as a person, not just a patient.  Here’s an interview with member “jesus reigns,” a member of our PatientsLikeMe Fibromyalgia Community who was interviewed for last month’s newsletter.   Read on to learn more about what puts a smile on her, her attitude on life, her favorite holiday traditions and more. Enjoy!

* * *

	(Amy) What puts a smile on your face?
	(jesus reigns) My children, my church family and the holidays.  Christmas is my favorite holiday, so I get to enjoy all of those things at the same time.  I am very sentimental, so it doesn’t take much for me to get emotional.
	(Amy) How would you describe your attitude on life?
	(jesus reigns) My attitude on life has changed quite a bit since I became ill with fibromyalgia.  I used to think that everything had to be done each day, just so.  I was a master in multi-tasking and could get by on six hours of sleep a night.  I would take on more and more tasks outside of the home, church assignments, school activities and so on.  My day was always full of things to do, and not enough time in which to do them.  I used to feel guilty when I couldn’t fulfill all of my obligations to everyone, and try that much harder to please everyone. Now, my attitude is that life is meant to be enjoyed, not worked through.  I have learned to delegate tasks around the house to my children, instead of trying to do it all myself.  I cut down on my outside activities drastically, even having to drop out of our choir in church for a while.  I am still learning how to pace myself, and to understand that being ill is not my fault. In knowing this, I am past feeling guilty about the things I can’t control.  Because God is my priority, my trust and help lie in Him, so I am taking life as it comes, while my faith is in Him.
	(Amy) What is your favorite holiday tradition and why?
	(jesus reigns) Christmas is on the top of my list.  My favorite holiday tradition is my family and I going to our candlelight services at midnight at our church on Christmas morning.  We usher in Christmas by singing Christmas songs and lighting candles in a circle around our church, each member holding a candle.  It is our way of putting Christ first for the day, and acknowledging that this is our first priority.  It gives us a sense of togetherness, love and unity.
	(Amy) What features of PatientsLikeMe do you use most?
	(jesus reigns) I use the update pages the most.  It is very handy, because I can keep track of my symptoms whenever I want to.  I also like the way that I can use this to print off [my updated history] for my doctor’s appointment.
	(Amy) Thanks so much for sharing, jesus reigns!

Since its launch in November 2008, our PatientsLikeMe Fibromyalgia Community has served as a place for more than 11,000 fibromyalgia patients to share with, find, and learn from others.  Over the past 2 years, thousands of you have reported using Pfizer’s Lyrica^® and Eli Lilly’s Cymbalta^® as prescribed treatments for your fibromyalgia.

PatientsLikeMe recently analyzed the experiences you’ve shared in our Fibromyalgia Community about Lyrica and Cymbalta.  Here are three key insights we learned:

1. Many of you experience little efficacy from either treatment. More than 40% of Lyrica patients and 50% of Cymbalta patients on our site perceive slight to no efficacy or simply cannot tell.  By comparison, only 20% of Lyrica patients and 15% of Cymbalta patients on our site perceive major efficacy.



2. Those of you using Cymbalta experience fewer side effects than those of you using Lyrica. 26% of Cymbalta patients on our site report no side effects, versus 16% for Lyrica. Additionally, 29% of Lyrica patients on our site report severe side effects, versus 19% for Cymbalta. It is not surprising that more Lyrica patients than Cymbalta patients discontinue treatment and do so more quickly.



3. Many of you attribute weight gain to Lyrica. In fact, of all side effects reported for either treatment, weight gain on Lyrica was the most frequently reported. By contrast as shown below, Cymbalta patients on our site did not frequently report weight gain as a side effect.

So what makes this data interesting?

• There remains a clear unmet need for developing better treatments in fibromyalgia. Based upon your real-world experiences, the existing treatment options are effective for only a minority of patients but cause side effects in a majority of them.  Developing new solutions for fibromyalgia that improve upon the safety and efficacy of existing treatment options remains an opportunity.

• This data provides important insights for those of you using – or considering using – one of these treatments. From what you’ve shared with us on PatientsLikeMe, we see that Lyrica patients more frequently report both major efficacy and severe side effects than Cymbalta patients.  Additionally, you frequently report experiencing little to no efficacy on either treatment.  One of the major benefits of sharing is how much it helps others like you know what to expect and whether or not an experience on Lyrica or Cymbalta is normal.

• This data illuminates similarities and differences between clinical trial data and real-world data. For example, weight gain in fibromyalgia patients was listed as a side effect in Lyrica clinical trials.  However, other side effects were more frequently reported in Lyrica clinical trials than weight gain, including dizziness, somnolence (daytime sleepiness) and headaches.  By contrast, your real-world experiences put weight gain atop the list of Lyrica side effects on PatientsLikeMe.  It’s important that we continue to develop a deeper understanding of the factors driving these similarities and differences in clinical trial data and real-world data.

Learning about the impact treatments have in the real world is only made possible by patients like you who embrace openness and give selflessly to other patients on PatientsLikeMe.  You are proof positive that the voice of one patient can become the voice of many, and that your real-world experiences are not only meaningful – they are essential to understanding what works, what doesn’t, and what needs to be improved.

You keep on saying it and we’ll keep on relaying it:  Treat Us Right.

To close out this week’s blog series (“One for All”), we bring you an interview with another noted “welcomer” from our Fibromyalgia community.  Meet Babsie.  A member of the 19,000-member community, she has commented on hundreds of patient profiles to date (which is highlighted in a graphic on Jeff Cole’s earlier blog here).   Read on to hear what Babsie has to say about why she joined the Fibromyalgia welcome wagon and what keeps her going.

	(Liz) Yesterday, we heard from MS community member, Diamondlil58, about her experiences welcoming members.  Why did you start welcoming people to the Fibromyalgia community?
	(Babsie) Someone welcomed me, and it made me feel good.  I never saw them on the forum, so after a few months I was curious and seeing the new patients without any subscribers or comments I would subscribe and make a comment.
	(Liz) What type of responses do you get from people you welcome?
	(Babsie) Always favorable and kind.  Some prayed for me and others became friends outside of PatientsLikeMe.
	(Liz) Do you keep in touch with people you welcome?
	(Babsie) Yes, in the forum; it is easier so I encourage people to post there. I monitor the Patients Tab and if they update I respond. I can also look at my own subscribers anytime I wish to send them a Private Message.
	(Liz) What is one thing you’ve learned from looking at new member’s profiles?
	(Babsie) Invisible disease is no respector of persons, young and old, their economic status – does not matter.
	(Liz) Do you feel more engaged with the site and its members as a result of the Welcome Wagon?
	(Babsie) Yes, if I am feeling isolated I go and invite others to participate.
	(Liz) Thanks for all the connections you’ve made just by inviting others to participate, Babsie!

In yesterday’s post, we looked at some of the ways members of the PatientsLikeMe community are connecting with other patients and the value they are getting from it.  Today, we’ll highlight how one person can make an enormous difference and inspire you with her ability to connect with others.

One method of reaching out to another member on PatientsLikeMe is by leaving a comment on their profile page.  Often, you exchange comments to inquire about specific data on someone’s profile or to thank them for sharing.  However, one of the most common uses of the comments functionality is for existing members to welcome new members to the community.  This is has been affectionately coined the “Welcome Wagon,” and it is most prominent in our MS community.  Today, more than 71% of members in that community get a comment within the first 2 days.  Receiving a comment from a veteran PatientsLikeMe member when you first join the site is a great way to “welcome” you aboard and make you feel a part of the community.

A large part of the effectiveness of the MS Welcome Wagon can be attributed to a member named Diamondlil58.  Of the 150,000 comments that have been left on PatientsLikeMe, Diamondlil58 has left a staggering 16,000 of them, addressed to over 15,000 different members.  The graph above shows just how extensively Diamondlil58 has connected with the community through commenting.  In the graph, the dots represents patients in our MS community, and the lines represent a comment between them.  Diamondlil58 is the large green dot near the center.  Notice how she has touched both the inter-connected network of patients (on the right), as well as sent out a huge number of comments to others who aren’t yet as well-connected (the moon-like diagram on the left).  A large portion of these comments were part of the Welcome Wagon.

While the Welcome Wagon was started in the MS community, it has definitely caught on in other communities.  Here is a look at how Babsie, an active member in our Fibromyalgia community, has reached out to welcome new members.  Like Diamondlil38, Babsie has helped create a network of dialogue and connection between patients like you.

It’s inspiring to see how one person can touch so many.  Members often tell us how beneficial it is to have a way to find “patients like me.”  (In fact, we cited a few examples yesterday from our research study that shows just how valuable that can be to one’s health).  However, that “find” functionality alone is not what makes this community what it is today.  It’s the people who are using it.  It’s the people who are willing to openly share with one another; the people who reach out to make those connections (sometimes initiated by beacons, like Diamondlil58); it’s people like you who make the most of being a member of PatientsLikeMe.

The next two blogs in this series will include interviews with Diamondlil58 and Babsie.  Stay tuned as we climb aboard the Welcome Wagon and hear what they have to say.

Last month, I spoke once again at the Health 2.0 conference in San Francisco.  The video of my presentation is now online.  Here’s a snapshot of what I covered in the 6-minute talk:

• The wealth of data shared in a PatientsLikeMe treatment reports (e.g., what fibromyalgia patients are sharing about Cymbalta and Lyrica)
• A suite analytical tools we have to drill down on this underlying data, such as
  • PatientsLikeMeLandscape^TM – a tool to learn more from what patients like you are talking about in the forum.
  • PatientsLikeMeListen^TM – a sentiment analysis of keywords in those forum conversations
  • PatientsLikeMeInsights^TM – our query engine that dives deeper into the data (e.g., weight gain in Cymbalta/Lyrica patients)

As I note in my presentation, there are a lot of caveats to what I have up on the screen.  We as an organization believe in being careful about throwing terms around like “evidence.”  So what you see in this video is not evidence – it’s the first look at some of the data we have to work with and what we can do with it as we continue on our path to create evidence.  With no uncertain terms, though, what you see here is the beginning of the insight we can generate around clinical outcomes of patients and the real-world impact of treatments.

As 2009 comes to an end, we want to take this opportunity to thank all of our members, partners and general fans for another great year.   Here’s a recap of some of the exciting happenings at PatientsLikeMe these past 12 months.  Wishing you all a Happy New Year!

Community Milestones
This year, the 15+ disease communities at PatientsLikeMe became an online home to more than 50,000 members.   The fibromyalgia community was expanded this past fall to include patients with chronic fatigue syndrome, and we announced a new community scheduled to launch early next year for people with epilepsy.  In addition to celebrating our communities’ awareness days and months within the site and right here on the blog (including Fibromyalgia Awareness Day, MS and PD Awareness Months, National HIV Testing Day and World AIDS Day), many of our members also participated on PatientsLikeMe teams in walk/run efforts to raise awareness and money in the name of their disease.  Congrats to the 40+ teams walking at events to support non-profit organizations like ALS Association, National MS Society, NAMI, Parkinson’s Alliance, APDA, and the MS Society of Canada. The real-time sharing and learning happening on PatientsLikeMe was also highlighted in the report series called The Patient Voice (starting with inpatient therapy for people with Mood conditions).  Check out highlights from all these programs on these videos from the Fibromyalgia, Parkinson’s, Multiple Sclerosis and Mood communities.

Many of our members have also become fans of PatientsLikeMe on Facebook.  Here are a few quotes posted to our Facebook page in ’09:

“I find this site so beneficial in looking for the tools to cope with the disease. People post research and real-life patient experiences of current trials and treatments. Hope is a major focus of PLM and I encourage others to join. We are strong in numbers and we have a voice.”

“PLM is a wonderful way to express what and how to live with this disease. It has changed my life for the better, have met wonderful individuals and we have shared, cried and grown by reaching out and expressing from our hearts, have made wonderful friends and have learned so much.”

Research Updates
If you haven’t checked out our research page or subscribed to Google Scholar alerts (92 articles referred to us in 2009!), here’s what you’ve been missing…

This year our ever-growing research team continued their analysis of the real-world data being shared by patients like you.  Awarded the inaugural JMIR award at Medicine 2.0, the PatientsLikeMe research team published pieces on compulsive gambling in patients with Parkinson’s disease in Movement Disorders, expanding the gold standard rating scale in advanced ALS in European Journal of Neurology, and “The power of social networking in medicine” in the highly respected journal Nature Biotechnology.

Throughout the year, the team has also shared insights via videos (like this series on the history of ALS or a recap of a study on the antidepressant Amitriptyline) and various presentations (such as an overview of our work at the at Eurordis AGM in Athens and updates on our lithium study at the International ALS/MND Symposium).  In addition to working on the development of our new communities, the team took additional steps to incorporate genetics into the PatientsLikeMe platform.  By participating in new partner studies (such as 23andMe and NEALS) and utilizing new product upgrades, including the launch of the Genetic Search Engine, patients are learning more about their condition and coming closer to answering the question:  “Given my status, what is the best outcome I can expect to achieve, and how do I get there?”

Keep your eyes out for more to come in 2010 as our R&D team rolls out more insights and outcomes measurements (like the Quality of Life scale in HIV), more improvements to the PatientsLikeMe platform, and cutting edge research in the peer-reviewed scientific literature.

The Business Side
As Ben said in a recent blog post, “we can’t have a business without you [the patient] and our communities can’t exist to help patients without a business.”  Throughout the year, the PatientsLikeMe executive team traveled around the world to present to industry partners, researchers, healthcare professionals and government leaders about the power of real-world patient data-sharing.  Here are some highlights from ’09:

• Partnerships: Earlier 2009, PatientsLikeMe announced partnerships with biopharma leader UCB to launch an epilepsy community next year and personal genomics company 23andMe to help people with Parkinson’s.

• Government: Piloted in our MS community this year, PatientsLikeMe members now have the ability to voluntarily report adverse events directly to the FDA; in fact, Jamie recently presented about adverse event reporting at an open FDA hearing on the “Promotion of FDA-Regulated Medical Products Using the Internet and Social Media Tools.”  PatientsLikeMe was also one of the collaborating organizations responsible for writing the Declaration of Health Data Rights and launching HealthDataRights.org this past June.  Finally, Jamie testified before the National Committee for Health and Vital Statistics, and gave an exciting rapid-fire presentation on the future of medicine at the Gov 2.0 Summit.

• Innovation: As a leader in Health 2.0, PatientsLikeMe executives are often asked to speak at various industry events.  Check out photos of Ben speaking at The National Summit and stay tuned for videos from Jamie’s presentation at TEDMED and David’s presentation at Bil:Pil.  You can also tune in to our live event tweets on the PatientsLikeMe Twitter account in 2010.

• Media Highlights: PatientLikeMe members, data and executives were also featured in media mentions throughout 2009, including WIRED, Forbes, U.S. News & World Report, Fox Business Live, Newsweek, New York Times, as well as Seed magazine, Nature Biotechnology and Neurology Today.

Happy New Year!
- The PatientsLikeMe Team

PatientsLikeMe made the following announcement last night at the TEDMED conference.  For more on Jamie Heywood’s presentation, check out what people are saying on Twitter.

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PATIENTSLIKEME ADDS ONLINE COMMUNITY FOR PEOPLE WITH CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME
Researchers Use Open Medical Network to Measure Real-World Impact of XMRV Virus

Cambridge, MA–October 30, 2009–PatientsLikeMe (www.patientslikeme.com), the leading online community for people with life-changing conditions, announces the expansion of its fibromyalgia community to welcome patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also know as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME). By sharing information about their experience with CFS, patients can now find others just like them, including other patients who may have the newly discovered xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV). The purpose of this expansion is for PatientsLikeMe to research the impact XMRV has on CFS patients.

“With 1 million patients diagnosed with CFS, and potentially 10 million Americans who could be infected with the XMRV virus, there is an unique opportunity to use the power of our open medical network to understand this illness and accelerate the validation and development of new biomarkers and treatments,” says Jamie Heywood, co-founder and chairman of PatientsLikeMe.

There are currently more than 7,000 patients, many who have CFS, in the PatientsLikeMe fibromyalgia community sharing meaningful data for researchers to analyze about the condition. As part of this expansion, the PatientsLikeMe platform will allow patients who test positive for XMRV to indicate that on their profiles, much how ALS and Parkinson’s patients can now add their genetic information.

Adds David S. Williams III, head of business development at PatientsLikeMe, “This discovery may spur research into the efficacy of anti-retrovirals for patients with CFS, which could have a dramatic impact on the $10 billion market for these medications.”

Heywood will announce the new CFS community on stage at the health technology conference TEDMED in San Diego, CA today. CFS marks the 17th condition available to patients on PatientsLikeMe, which now boasts more than 45,000 patients sharing health data on treatments, symptoms and outcomes. The company’s next community for people with epilepsy is scheduled to launch in early 2010. More about PatientsLikeMe partnerships can be found on its partner site: http://partners.patientslikeme.com.

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