Congratulations South Africa PWSA!

Rika and family (with Linda Thornton)

The Willowton Group, marketers of edible oil products, decided earlier this year to donate 4 million Rand (USD590,362, or E420,719) to 40 deserving charities throughout South Africa to commemorate its 40^th anniversity.  Three ceremonies will be held this month at which the selected charities will receive their cheques, the Prader-Willi Syndrome Association of South Africa, being one of the lucky forty.  This extremely generous donation was done by the company which is enjoying substantial growth in its industry, so as  “not to forget the impoverished communities across the country”, said director Ali Akbar Moosa and chairman Abdul Razak Moosa.

President of the South African PWS Organisation, Rika du Plooy, and her colleagues, are “over the moon” with the donation, saying that this will certainly help to put PWS on the map in South Africa, and they will be promoting awareness of the syndrome in the hope to identify the many families where there is a child, or adult, yet undiagnosed and needing their help and support.

Congratulations, South Africa, from all at IPWSO!!

Can the satiety mechanism in PWS be controlled?

Kate McAllister and colleagues at the Cambridge University, UK, have been involved in researching the brain's ability to appreciate satiety.  This video clip  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofgjtGra3I8  shows an interesting perspective on looking at how the on-off switch for fullness, particularly in Prader-Willi Syndrome, might be regulated.  Much research has been done on looking at the genetics of obesity, and the genetics of PWS could well hold the key to discovering why the desire to eat over-rides any control mechanism. 

Please have a look at this YouTube clip on research being done by Cambridge University on monitoring the brain's ability to appreciate satiety. If they can implement the conclusion they are suggesting, it is very exciting news.  To contact Kate directly: km511@medschl.cam.ac.uk