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OUR MISSION Community Partnership

DISEASES AND HEALTH ISSUES Community Partnership

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The first step to better healthcare: Awareness.

Helping patients understand more about the diseases that could affect them and their loved ones is the first step towards getting them the help they need. It's good to know that many of the diseases below are treatable if dealt with early on. With programs like the sanofi-aventis Community Health Partnership, a healthier future for families in local communities can become a reality.

Click on a disease below for more information and treatment options.

Diabetes

Diabetes Overview

Type 1 diabetes is a chronic condition in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin. Insulin is a hormone needed to convert sugar (glucose) into energy. Type 1 diabetes can develop at any age, but typically appears during childhood or adolescence. Type 2 diabetes is a similar — although much more common — condition in which the body becomes resistant to the effects of insulin or the body produces some, but not enough, insulin to maintain a normal blood sugar level.

Diabetes Symptoms

Symptoms are often subtle, but if you experience the following, consult your doctor: Excessive thirst and increased urination, flu-like feeling, weight loss, blurred vision, slow-healing sores or frequent infections, tingling hands and feet, and red, swollen, tender gums. Remember, diabetes is a serious condition and the earlier it is diagnosed, the sooner treatment can begin.

LANTUS®

Lantus is a long-acting insulin taken once a day, any time of day, at the same time each day. Lantus works steadily and consistently to help manage blood sugar control around the clock for 24 hours. Lantus is available for use in a vial or in an easy to use pen. Lantus is the only 24-hour insulin approved exclusively for use once a day. LANTUS is taken as part of an overall diabetes treatment plan, which may include a healthy diet, regular exercise, oral antidiabetic medications, and/or rapid-acting insulin, to help control blood sugar in patients with diabetes.

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LANTUS®

Important Safety Information for Lantus®

Prescription Lantus® is for adults with type 2 diabetes or adults and children (6 years and older) with type 1 diabetes who require long-acting insulin for the control of high blood sugar. Lantus® SoloSTAR® is a disposable insulin delivery device (insulin pen). Needles and the SoloSTAR® pen must not be shared.

DO NOT DILUTE OR MIX LANTUS® WITH ANY OTHER INSULIN OR SOLUTION. It will not work as intended, and you may lose blood sugar control, which could be serious. Do not change your insulin without talking with your doctor. The syringe must not contain any other medication or residue. You should not use Lantus® if you are allergic to insulin. Lantus® is a long-acting insulin you inject just once a day, at the same time each day. You must test your blood sugar levels while using an insulin such as Lantus®.

The most common side effect of insulin, including Lantus®, is hypoglycemia, which may be serious. Other possible side effects may include injection site reactions, including changes in fat tissue at the injection site, and allergic reactions, including itching and rash. In rare cases, some allergic reactions may be life threatening. Tell your doctor about other medicines and supplements you are taking because they can change the way insulin works.

Click here for additional important information for Lantus®.

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Heart Attack, Stroke and Peripheral Arterial Disease

Heart Attack, Stroke, PAD Overview

A heart attack can occur when arteries supplying blood to the heart are partially or severely blocked. When this blockage occurs in vessels that supply blood to the head, a stroke may result. In most cases, the blockage is caused when small blood cells called platelets form clots. About 90% of all heart attacks and 85% of strokes results from these types of clots. In peripheral arterial disease, or PAD, there is poor circulation in the legs that may cause pain during exercise, such as walking, and may be relieved by rest. The presence of PAD implies possible plaque buildup in the arteries of the legs, which may mean plaque buildup in the arteries leading to the heart or the brain as well.

Heart Attack, Stroke, PAD Symptoms

Common symptoms of a heart attack include:
increasing episodes of pressure or pain in the chest, pain in the shoulder, arm, back, teeth, jaw, and upper abdomen, shortness of breath, sweating, impending sense of doom, fainting, nausea, vomiting, heartburn, and clammy skin. Stroke symptoms include: trouble walking, speaking, seeing, numbness on one side of the body, and headache.

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Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT)

DVT Overview

DVT is a serious condition in which a blood clot (thrombus) forms in one or more of the deep veins in your body, usually in your legs. The blood clot can break loose and travel to your lungs, causing a pulmonary (lung) embolism, which can be fatal. Some DVT disappears or forms in veins closer to the surface of your skin, which isn't typically dangerous. DVT can be caused by prolonged immobility or from an inherited disorder.

DVT Symptoms

While there are no noticeable symptoms in about half of all DVT cases, some warning signs you should be privy to include: swelling or pain in the legs, ankles and feet, redness or warmth over the affected area, and pain or swelling in your arms or neck. If you experience chest pain or discomfort, dizziness or shortness of breath, see your doctor immediately as these could be signs of a pulmonary embolism.

LOVENOX®

LOVENOX is used to help reduce the risk of DVT, which may lead to pulmonary embolism. Patients who are undergoing abdominal surgery, hip or knee-replacement surgery, or at risk for thromboembolic complications due to severely restricted mobility during acute illness (Congestive heart failure, flare-ups of Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), Acute infection, and cancer) may be candidates for LOVENOX. It alters the blood's normal clotting process, so clots can't form as easily.

LOVENOX®

Important Safety Information

LOVENOX® Full Prescribing Information, including boxed WARNING

Certain procedures, called "epidural/spinal anesthesia" and "spinal puncture," may be used as a normal part of hospitalization. Patients requiring these procedures while being treated with LOVENOX® or other low-molecular-weight heparins are at risk of developing a blood clot in or around the spine. This condition may result in long-term or permanent paralysis.

LOVENOX® is not the same as "unfractionated heparin" or other drugs called "low-molecular-weight heparins." Therefore, these drugs cannot be used interchangeably with LOVENOX®.

LOVENOX® can alter the blood's ability to clot. Patients treated with LOVENOX®, who also have conditions affecting the clotting system, must be carefully monitored by their physician. Adjusting the dose of LOVENOX® may be necessary for patients who have certain forms of kidney disease. All patients receiving LOVENOX®, as well as other anticoagulants, should be carefully monitored for bleeding by their physician. Bleeding can occur at any site with LOVENOX® use.

Platelet drops, known as "thrombocytopenia," can occur with LOVENOX® use. Cases of a related condition called "heparin-induced thrombocytopenia" have been observed in clinical practice. If you have had this condition, you must notify your healthcare professional. Your physician may perform blood tests to monitor for the occurrence of any drop in platelet count.

The use of LOVENOX® has not been adequately studied in pregnant women with artificial (mechanical) heart valves.

LOVENOX® should not be used in patients with an allergy or sensitivity reaction to the active ingredient called enoxaparin sodium, heparin, or pork products, and in patients with active major bleeding.

Common side effects include mild local reactions or irritation at the site of injection, pain, bruising, and redness of skin.

For specific questions about your health, you should always consult your physician or a qualified healthcare professional who is responsible for your care.

Please see Full Prescribing Information including boxed WARNING for additional important information.

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Insomnia

Insomnia Overview

Insomnia is a serious medical condition that shouldn't be taken lightly. It affects more than half the U.S. adult population with difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep, waking up too early, or waking up feeling unrefreshed. There are three basic types of insomnia: transient, (lasting fewer than four weeks), short-term (inability to sleep well for a period of four weeks to six months), and chronic (occurring every night or most nights for more than six months).

Insomnia Symptoms

Insomnia is a nighttime problem that can become a daytime problem if not treated. Symptoms may include: difficulty falling asleep at night, waking up during the night, waking up too early, daytime fatigue or sleepiness and daytime irritability.

AMBIEN CR®

AMBIEN CR is the only 2-layer sleep aid that helps you fall asleep and stay asleep*, so you wake up less frequently and fall back to sleep faster. AMBIEN CR is non-narcotic and can be taken for as long as your doctor recommends.

*Proven effective for up to 7 hours in clinical studies.

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AMBIEN CR®

AMBIEN CR is indicated to help you fall asleep and/or stay asleep.

Important Safety Information

AMBIEN CR is a treatment option you and your healthcare provider can consider along with lifestyle changes and can be taken for as long as your provider recommends. Until you know how AMBIEN CR will affect you, you shouldn't drive or operate machinery. Be sure you're able to devote 7 to 8 hours to sleep before being active again. Sleepwalking, and eating or driving while not fully awake, with amnesia for the event, have been reported. If you experience any of these behaviors contact your provider immediately. In rare cases, sleep medicines may cause allergic reactions such as swelling of your tongue or throat, shortness of breath or more severe results. If you have an allergic reaction while using AMBIEN CR, contact your doctor immediately. Side effects may include next-day drowsiness, dizziness, and headache. It's non-narcotic; however, like most sleep medicines, it has some risk of dependency. Don't take it with alcohol.

Please refer to the full prescribing information and medication guide.

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Hypertension

Overview

High blood pressure (hypertension) typically develops without signs or symptoms and affects nearly 1 in 3 adults. Blood pressure is determined by the amount of blood your heart pumps and the amount of resistance to blood flow in your arteries. The more blood your heart pumps and the narrower your arteries, the higher your blood pressure. If left uncontrolled, it can lead to health problems such as heart attack and stroke.

Symptoms

While most people with high blood pressure have no signs or symptoms, even at dangerously high levels, there are instances of dull headaches, dizzy spells or a few more nosebleeds than normal. These signs and symptoms typically don't occur until high blood pressure has reached an advanced — possibly life-threatening — stage. Since symptoms are so subtle, ask your doctor for a blood pressure reading at least every two years.

Treatments

There is a treatment that can lower your numbers if you have high blood pressure and help slow the progression of kidney disease caused by type 2 diabetes, kidney disease and hypertension.

Learn more about this treatment.

There is also a treatment that treats hypertension for those patients whose blood pressure is not under control on monotherapy. This treatment option works by blocking the action of certain natural chemicals that tighten the blood vessels, making blood flow more smoothly and by causing the kidneys to get rid of unneeded water and salt from the body into the urine.

Learn more about this treatment.

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