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AMIC Info-Flash - 06/2004

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  • AMIC Info-Flash - 06/2004

    AMIC's Newsletter, Montreal, Canada
    AMIC's Info-Flash
    2340 Chemin Lucerne # 30
    Ville Mont-Royal, Quebec
    H3R 2J8, Canada
    Tel : (514) 739 8950
    Fax : (514) 738 2622
    Web: www.amic.ca
    Email: [email protected]

    June, 2004

    1. Article 1: " AMIC's Annual General Assembly:
    Discussions and Results
    2. Article 2: " Chronomically (time-structurally)
    interpreted vascular monitoring in
    pregnancy in the Armenian BIOCOS
    arm"
    3. Article 3: " Conference- Mental Health
    Perspectives in Public Health"
    4. Article 4: " A new initiative from the Ministry of
    Health of Armenia"
    5. Article 5: " Announcement from the Armenian
    Medical Association and Birthright
    Armenia"
    6. Article 6: "A new medical book"
    7. Article 7: " What is AMIC?"

    ************************************************** ***********


    1. AMIC's Annual General Assembly: Discussions and Results


    On May 28 and 29th, 2004, AMIC held its annual General Assembly in Toronto
    warmly hosted by AMIC member association the Armenian-Canadian Medical
    Association of Ontario (ACMAO). The discussions focused primarily on the
    following subjects:

    - The AMIC Journal: an agreement was reached on a new formula of
    collaboration with the publisher Regimedia USA to publish a quarterly
    medical journal tentatively called the Armenian Medical Journal. Once a
    contract is signed, the principal guidelines will be given out to our
    readers.

    - The 9th Armenian Medical World Congress, scheduled to be held in San
    Francisco from June 29 to July 2, 2005. For all practical information (hotel
    reservation rates and deadlines, registration fees, programs, please visit
    the website for the Congress referred to above). Brochures and registration
    forms are available; some associations have already received them and are
    sending them out to their members. If you wish to receive one, please
    contact AMIC's office (Phone (514) 739 8950, e-mail: [email protected]).

    We are proud and happy to announce that the Rector of Boston University, Dr.
    Aram Chobanian, has accepted to be the keynote speaker at the Congress. Stay
    tuned for other important announcements!

    - AMIC has received official confirmation from the Minister of Health of
    Armenia, Dr. Norayr Davidian, that the Second International Medical Congress
    of Armenia will be held in 2007 in Yerevan, in accordance with the
    understanding signed between AMIC and the Ministry of Health of Armenia.


    - The site of the 10th Congress to be held in 2009, will be decided at the
    2005 General Assembly in San Francisco during the 9th Congress. Any
    interested candidates should contact the AMIC office. It would be
    interesting to hold the next Congress in South America or Europe (including
    Russia).

    - The AMIC - AUA Health Projects Database (www.amicdatabase.org) was
    discussed and it was decided to continue updating the Database for another
    year. All those who have projects in Armenia are requested to submit their
    information to the database through the web site.

    - Long discussions were held concerning AMIC's mission and its finances and
    the necessity of increasing its budget. It was strongly recommended that the
    current budget be increased by $25 000 CDN (double its current budget) to
    permit AMIC to fully reach its potential. The means to achieve that goal
    will be reviewed later on.

    -A very fruitful session was devoted to the on-going activities of member
    associations in particular in Armenia and Artsakh. AMIC`s experience has
    been that those associations which have active programs in Armenia as well
    as in their local communities tend to be the most motivated and dynamic.

    ************************************************** **


    2- "Chronomically (time-structurally) interpreted vascular monitoring in
    pregnancy in the Armenian BIOCOS arm"

    The following appeal was sent to AMIC's Info-Flash by Professor Franz
    Halberg of the University of Minnesota (USA). Please read it carefully and
    respond to it. It is of the utmost importance that this kind of
    collaboration be encouraged and supported by all means, by the Health Care
    Community of the Armenian Diaspora. In his own words, Professor Halberg
    remarked in his message: "I fully endorse this appeal, originating from
    Armenia, not only for the sake of Armenia, but for the sake of all pregnant
    women".

    "A group of Armenian physician-scientists under the guidance of Prof. Nubar
    Levon Aslanyan at the suggestion of Prof. Franz Halberg (F. Halberg
    Chronobiologic Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA.
    http://www.msi.umn.edu/~halberg/) has undertaken the investigation of
    circadian blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) rhythms in pregnant women
    at the Maternal and Child Health Protection (M&Ch HP) Scientific Center of
    Yerevan (Armenia). This follow-up on an earlier Minnesota investigation (1)
    was begun in January 2001. Up to now, more than 310 pregnant women 18-35
    years old, have been monitored and data from 176 of these have been
    summarized, in addition to the use in everyday clinical practice of all data
    from the chronomically interpreted monitoring.

    OBJECTIVES - The aim of this investigation was to collect reference values
    and on this basis to detect pregnant women with disturbances of variability
    in BP and HR; to do this by gauging circadian and infradian BP and HR
    rhythms and yet broader chronomes (time structures) and, in the light of any
    alterations, to carry out prophylactic and therapeutic measures for the
    prevention of the development of any pathologic process by the treatment of
    as early abnormalities as possible.

    SUBJECTS - Completed analyses concern the results of chronomic BP and HR
    monitoring of 53 healthy MESOR (chronome-adjusted mean) - normotensive
    pregnant women, 55 pregnant women at risk for developing gestational
    hypertension, 45 pregnant women with gestational MESOR-hypertension and 24
    pregnant women with preeclampsia.

    METHODS - The monitoring of BP and HR was performed by means of a
    non-invasive device TM-2421 (A&D, Tokyo, Japan) at 30-min intervals during a
    span of (only) 3-5 days (72-120 hours) (because of insufficient numbers of
    available instruments). A processor, TM-2021, was used to transfer the data
    of the monitor to a personal computer with the aid of manufacturer-supplied
    software Doctor-pro 2430-13. The data were sent to Dr. Germaine Cornélissen,
    director of the Halberg Chronobiology Center of the University of Minnesota,
    where they were analyzed by rhythmometric methods and results returned by
    e-mail with a turnaround time usually not exceeding one day, to be used in
    everyday health care, primarily for the prediction of an elevated risk of
    gestational hypertension and preeclampsia and for the institution of
    countermeasures as well for scientific elaboration.

    RESULTS - In healthy normotensive pregnant women statistically significant
    circadian rhythms' characteristics for systolic (S) and diastolic (D) BP and
    HR, were mapped-MESOR, M; circadian amplitude, A (a measure of extent of
    within-day change); and acrophase, _(a measure of timing)- as a function of
    gestational age. The A of SBP and the MESOR of HR increased in the second
    and third trimesters.

    In healthy normotensive pregnant women, non-parametric indices, a hyperbaric
    and tachycardic index and the timing and percent time of elevation of
    circadian variation in blood pressure and heart rate above age-and
    gender-matched peer values gave complementary information about the degree,
    the timing and the duration of BP and HR elevation. All were near zero for
    the healthy group by comparison to U.S. standards. Any increase of these
    indices indicates a disturbance in the circadian chronostructure of BP and
    HR.

    These chronomic criteria served for the early detection of indications for
    action on pregnant women at elevated risk for gestational hypertension:
    MESOR- and/or circadian hyper-amplitude-tension (CHAT) were an increase of
    MESORs and amplitudes of the circadian rhythm of SBP, above preliminary
    reference values.

    Rhythmometric criteria were also established for early detection of the risk
    of preeclampsia, beginning in the second trimester of pregnancy. These
    criteria are the changes of parametric (MESOR, double amplitude and
    acrophase) indices of circadian rhythms in systolic and diastolic blood
    pressures when compared with the data of healthy MESOR-normotensive pregnant
    women.

    A 10-50 fold increase of non-parametric indices of systolic and diastolic
    blood pressure circadian rhythms (hyperbaric index and percent time excess)
    has also been found, which potentially complements non-dipping, a reduction
    of the extent of nocturnal sleep-associated BP fall, for an early
    chronodiagnosis of gestational hypertension and preeclampsia, before
    clinical symptoms appear.

    Changes in MESOR, hyperbaric index, percent time of excess and acrophase of
    circadian rhythms in systolic and diastolic BP, according to our data, are
    chronodiagnostic criteria that differentiate gestational hypertension from
    preeclampsia. An analogous test is the timing of excess of diastolic blood
    pressure, found in the early morning hours in pregnant women with
    gestational hypertension and during the early night hours in pregnant women
    with preeclampsia.

    These preliminary results of our investigations based on the monitoring of
    BP and HR during a span of three days, were useful for obstetricians at the
    Scientific Research Center of Maternal and Child Health Protection (MCHP) in
    Yerevan (Armenia). Monitoring is in demand to have an objective diagnosis of
    BP and HR behavior in pregnant women to detect any abnormal behavior in BP
    and HR disturbances, whether during the day and/or by night. A similar
    surveillance is impossible when only casual time-unspecified BP and HR
    readings are taken with manual sphygmomanometers and even when 24-hour
    profiles are examined only for daytime and nighttime averages and dipping.

    Much more informative results are anticipated from routine chronomically
    interpreted 7-day monitoring. Thereby, one can evaluate reference values for
    the characteristics of about half-weekly and weekly rhythms, with one
    replication of the half-weekly characteristics.

    Consequently the Armenian chronobiologists and obstetricians at MCHP need
    more monitors for the prophylaxis and treatment of blood pressure disorders
    in pregnant women, while the MCHP is at the forefront of research aimed at
    exploring the merits of continuous monitoring during pregnancy.

    Added monitors are available with an 85% reduction in actual price through
    the courtesy of a Japanese firm. Because of this price reduction, U.S. $ 10
    680 would buy 20 monitors instead of just three or four, but any lesser
    number would also be helpful. The team at MCHP provides new kinds of
    reference values that may improve the detection of abnormality in pregnancy
    and otherwise, not only in Armenia but also worldwide."

    Donations can be sent according to your geographic location, to the
    following persons and countries:
    -Dr. Nubar L, Aslanyan (Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor and Chief,
    Laboratory of Clinical Chemistry & Chronobiology, Institute of Cardiology,
    P. Sevak Str. 5, Yerevan 375044, Armenia.
    Phone + 374-2 288583, e-mail: [email protected]
    -Dr. Germaine Cornélissen, Director, Halberg Chronobiology Center,
    University of Minnesota, Mayo Mail Code 8609, Dept. of Laboratory Medicine
    Minneapolis Campus 420 Delaware Street SE Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
    Phone (651) 454-6334 or 484-3160 Fax (612) 624-9989. E-mail:
    [email protected] Web site: http://revilla.mac.cie.uva.es/chrono
    -Mrs. Aida Boudjikanian, Administrative Director, Armenian Medical
    International Committee, 2340 Chemin Lucerne, # 30, Ville Mont-Royal, Qc.
    H3R 2J8, Canada.
    Phone (514) 739 8950. E-mail: [email protected]

    The amount donated will be immediately sent to Dr. Germaine Cornélissen,
    from whom you will receive a confirmation.

    (1) Cornélissen G, Kopher R, Brat P, Rigatuso J, Work B, Eggen D, Einzig S,
    Vernier R, Halberg F. Chronobiologic ambulatory cardiovascular monitoring
    during pregnancy in Group Health of Minnesota. Proc. 2nd Ann. IEEE Symp. On
    Computer-Based Medical Systems, Minneapolis, June 26-27, 1989. Washington
    DC: Computer Society Press; 1989. p. 226-237.

    **********************************************


    3. Conference - " Mental Health Pespectives in Public
    Health"

    Announcement and Invitation from the Vice-Chairman of the Organizing
    Committee, Vardan Karamyan, Ph.D.

    Dear Colleague,

    The World Psychiatrists Association, the Armenian Association of
    Psychiatrists and Narcologists and the Armenian Medical Association take
    pleasure in inviting you to participate in a Conference concerning "Mental
    Health Perspectives in Public Health", devoted to the 100th anniversary of
    Academician A.H. Mehrabyan.
    The Conference will take place in Yerevan, Armenia, from October 7-10, 2004.

    We invite you to participate in the conference with an oral presentation
    and/or a poster. Your best research work will be carefully reviewed by the
    Scientific Committee. There will be an award for the best oral presentation.
    There will also be a special A.H. Mehrabyan's Award, Conference President's
    Award, as well as several other awards (for detailed information please
    visit www.apa.am).

    We hope to welcome a number of attendees who we believe, will benefit from
    and contribute to, the discussion of recent advances in our understanding of
    Mental Health.

    The Conference will also have extensive cultural and social programs, which
    will give you an opportunity to get to know Armenia, its ancient history and
    tradition. The period during which the Conference will take place coincides
    with the celebration of the 2786th anniversary of the ancient town
    Erebouni - Yerevan, which will make your visit even more interesting.

    Hope to meet you in Yerevan,

    With Best Regards, on behalf of the Organizing Committee,

    Vardan Karamyan Ph.D.

    Armenian Medical Association
    P.O. Box 143, Yerevan, 375010, Armenia
    Phone: + (3741) 535868. Fax + (3741) 534879. E-mail : [email protected]
    www.armeda.am

    *************************************************


    4. A new initiative from the Ministry of Health of
    Armenia.

    The Ministry of Health of Armenia has decided to put up big posters in all
    the entry halls of the hospitals and the polyclinics of the country. The
    objective is to inform the population of the medical services and care which
    the concerned establishments should provide freely. Dr. Ara Ter Grigoryan,
    president of the Social Healthcare Agency, explained the objectives of the
    initiative during a press conference held on June 9, warning the population
    of the importance of taking note and reading the posters, which are written
    in simple and understandable language. They will explain to patients what
    are their rights in the health care system, also normalizing the relations
    between patients and physicians.

    This initiative has the material support of USAID.
    ***********************************************




    5. Announcement from the Armenian Medical
    Association and Birthright Armenia

    The Armenian Medical Association would like to extend an invitation to any
    young Diaspora Armenians interested in the field of medicine who would like
    to volunteer in Armenia. The Armenian Medical Association, in collaboration
    with Birthright Armenia, has begun a new program that aims to give Diasporan
    Armenians between the ages of eighteen and thirty-two, the opportunity to
    volunteer in a medical capacity in Armenia - networking with healthcare
    professionals in Armenia and forging future links between medicine in
    Armenia and in Armenian communities abroad. The Armenian Medical
    Association, with its extensive network of medical professionals, will be
    able to find and place those interested in suitable medical positions.

    The Armenian Medical Association is a non-governmental, non-partisan
    organization of medical professionals who strive to advance medicine in
    Armenia. For more information, please refer to our website at www.armeda.am

    Unlike other opportunities, this program offers many ways to easily discover
    Armenia, including fully subsidized round-trip travel costs to any
    individual who qualifies with Birthright Armenia's criteria. It is
    Birthright Armenia's mission to strengthen ties between the homeland and
    Diasporan youth by affording young Armenians an opportunity to be a part of
    Armenia's daily life and to contribute to Armenia's development through
    work, study and volunteer experiences, while developing life-long personal
    ties and a renewed sense of Armenian identity.

    For the exact specifications for qualifying for Birthright Armenia, and for
    more information on the organization, please refer to their website at
    www.birthrightarmenia.org

    There are currently three (3) available positions for the summer of 2004.
    Interested candidates who qualify under Birthright Armenia's specifications
    should contact Birthright Armenia at [email protected] immediately
    to secure their position.

    APPLY NOW TO BE IN ARMENIA IN JULY!

    Gevorg Yaghjyan, MD Ph.D.
    Chairman of the Educational Committee, Armenian Medical Association.

    *************************************************

    6. A new medical book

    Drs. Jerry and Mariam Manoukian, besides presiding the organizing committee
    of the 9th World Armenian Medical Congress in San Francisco (see above),
    have managed to find the time to write a book entitled "Metabolic Syndrome
    Survival Guide", bearing the subtitle "Learn to Prevent Diabetes and Heart
    Attack". Inspired by their patients, and written for them, the book is very
    easy to read and to understand.

    The authors would like to hear your comments and questions, and to include
    the answers in the second volume. Dr. Jerry Manoukian says that "Metabolic
    Syndrome is increasingly recognized as the precursor to most adult diabetes
    and a large percentage of cardiovascular disease."

    Their website, www.manoukian.org, describes the syndrome and the book.

    ************************************************** *


    7. What is AMIC?

    The Armenian Medical International Committee was created fourteen years ago.
    It is an umbrella organization that unites Armenian medical associations
    throughout the Diaspora, creating thus a large network through which
    information and data are exchanged.
    AMIC organizes Armenian Medical World Congresses. So far eight have been
    held in different cities of the Diaspora. In 2003, "The First International
    Medical Congress of Armenia", organized by Armenia, was held in Yerevan from
    July 1 to July 3.
    The 9th AMIC Congress will be held in 2005 (from June 29 to July 3), in San
    Francisco (USA). You can have the latest news by visiting the website
    http://9amwc.org

    AMIC publishes since 1998 an online newsletter and sends it freely to all
    Armenian Health Care professionals. If you are a health care professional
    and are interested in receiving Info-Flash, please send us your e-mail
    address ([email protected]) . To all those who already receive the Info, please
    do not forget to send us your new e-mail address when you change it.
    For further information visit our website: www.amic.ca

    A useful information to remember: you can send freely from wherever you are
    located, medical equipment/medicine through the services of the United
    Armenian Fund; President Mr. Harout Sassounian ([email protected])
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