Don’t Be Left Behind. Keep Up With THE HERD!
Selected Highlighted News in the field of Autoimmune
Encephalitis March 2020 2nd edition
In this Issue~
- Announcements: Coronavirus (COVID-19) at-home collection kit, Autoimmune Encephalitis Trivia Cards On Sale, Two new website pages addressing COVID-19 and Mental Health/Emotional support for #StayHome #SocialDistancing
- Most Popular Handout of the Month: #CoronavirusCommunityChallenge
- Most Popular Visual of the Month: Oral Hygiene can prevent the spread of COVID-19
- Most Popular Video: We are the World vs Corona Virus Musical Video
- Clinician’s Corner: Th17 Lymphocytes Drive Vascular and Neuronal Deficits in a Mouse Model of Postinfectious Autoimmune Encephalitis
- Open Access: Glycine receptor autoantibodies disrupt inhibitory neurotransmission
Everlywell is a health and wellness company that provides at-home lab testing kits and digital results within just days. They have announced an at-home collection kit with telehealth diagnosis for COVID-19 available to consumers starting Monday, March 23. The initial supply of 30,000 tests amounts to a significant increase in total COVID-19 tests that have been processed in the U.S. as of March 18, 2020.
By working with multiple labs to scale infrastructure, Everlywell plans to have testing and diagnosis capacity for a quarter of a million people weekly.
Autoimmune Encephalitis Trivia playing cards is the first product in the world designed to educate patients, therapists, caregivers, teachers, and friends about autoimmune encephalitis and act as an important patient rehabilitation tool all in one. AE experts around the world have shared their excitement about this product and how it can help patients.
Created by Tabitha Orth, IAES President and in collaboration with Josep Dalmau, M.D., Ph.D. (The World’s leading expert on AE), AE Trivia cards answers the most common questions about AE.
Autoimmune Encephalitis Trivia cards are a vital educational/rehabilitation tool specifically designed to support AE patients, caregivers, loved ones, therapists and teachers. Each set includes 52 cards, 2 Jokers, an information card and an instruction booklet. Cards contain questions and answers to the most common questions patients ask about the disease covering diagnosis, symptoms, treatment, and recovery.
AE trivia cards double as a rehabilitation tool for cognitive and memory loss challenges from brain injury. Through the repetition of playing, the user receives an outstanding educational foundation about AE that empowers them. Color coding is used to support lower baselines and children’s games.
As re-learning/re-training the brain advances from color and number matching and memory games, other suggested games outlined in the accompanying booklet can be utilized. AE trivia addresses brain functions such as long- and short-term memory, attention level, reading, reasoning skills, and cognition.
Family members, caregivers, and loved ones also benefit by learning about AE through the questions and answers provided on the cards. Therapists and Teachers can incorporate the cards in their rehabilitation programs or student educational goals.
AE Trivia cards are on sale to the public at the introductory low price of $15 per deck.
You can now follow us on Instagram at intl_ae_society for educational and entertaining visual information.
Most Popular Handout of the Month~featured on our new website page for Mental Health and Emotional Support during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Most Popular Visual of the Month~Featured on our new COVID-19 website page
IAES takes pride in keeping our community up-to-date with the latest news in the field of autoimmune neurology and topics that directly impact our lives. As the leading organization in the AE community for patients and families, the community depends on us to provide the best information in times of strife.
To assist you through the COVID-19 pandemic, IAES has created two vitally important new website pages for you which are easily located on our menu.
Most Popular Video of the Month
We are the World vs Coronavirus Music Video
It is up to us to play a role in fighting the Coronavirus. As we have often said when a new person enters our community: “Welcome to the Family you never knew you had!
You are Me. I am You.”
Today, we are all Family. Each person in the world is our family. This pandemic is very personal and has brought us together in ways we were not before.
The choices we make to #SocialDistance will save our own lives. The simple acts of kindness and emotional support we provide to each other will lift us up and get us through.
Clinician’s Corner
Th17 Lymphocytes Drive Vascular and Neuronal Deficits in a Mouse Model of Postinfectious Autoimmune Encephalitis
Basal ganglia encephalitis (BGE), representing a subset of AE syndromes, is triggered in children by repeated group A Streptococcus (GAS) infections that lead to neuropsychiatric symptoms. Th17 lymphocytes have reduced BBB leakage, microglial activation, and antibody infiltration into the CNS, and have their olfactory function partially restored. Th17 lymphocytes are therefore critical for selective CNS entry of autoantibodies, microglial activation, and neural circuit impairment during postinfectious BGE.
Glycine receptor autoantibodies disrupt inhibitory neurotransmission
Human immunoglobulin G (IgG) autoantibodies to glycine receptors are found in a substantial proportion of patients with progressive encephalomyelitis with rigidity and myoclonus, and less frequently in other variants of stiff person syndrome. Demonstrating a pathogenic role of glycine receptor autoantibodies would help justify the use of immunomodulatory therapies and provide insight into the mechanisms involved. Here, purified IgGs from four patients with progressive encephalomyelitis with rigidity and myoclonus or stiff person syndrome, and glycine receptor autoantibodies, were observed to disrupt profoundly glycinergic neurotransmission.
The finding that glycine receptor autoantibodies in patients can have direct and rapid effects on glycine receptors is intriguing and would suggest that, if this antagonistic action is confirmed to be a dominant mechanism in patients, treatment strategies to deplete autoantibodies or block binding to the antigenic target may be more successful than potential therapeutic strategies targeting internalization pathways or complement cascades.
Are YOU an IAES angel? Do you love someone with AE? Do you want to raise AE awareness to not just support AE Warriors but lead researchers to finding a cure? The IAES Angel is someone who lifted IAES upward by ensuring that comfort, guidance and improved health is brought into an AE patient’s life.
IAES Angels are motivated by their Spirit of giving. They are Champions in raising AE awareness. Your devotion to supporting our mission and improving the lives of those who suffer from AE is felt mightily and immediately put to use.
When you become an #IAESANGEL, International Autoimmune Encephalitis Society will send you this badge and profile frame to place on your Facebook page or Website. As badges ‘take flight’ heralding IAES has been ‘touched by an angel’, others will take notice and they too may find their wings. Together, we will create a future where AE is eradicated from this world and only referenced in medical history books.
Your donations are greatly appreciated. Every dollar raised allows us to raise awareness and personally help Patients, Families and Caregivers through their Journey with AE so that best outcomes may be reached. Your contribution to our mission will help save a life and improve the quality of lives for others. Be a part of the solution by supporting IAES.
Driven by the knowledge that “Education is Power”, Int’l AE Society manages an educational support group for patients diagnosed with Autoimmune Encephalitis and their loved ones on Face Book, empowering them to be strong self-advocates and advocates that will lead them to best outcomes and recovery. We are the premiere organization leading in these vital roles.
