Bayer Photo Contest for CTEPH Awareness Now Accepting Entries

Bayer HealthCare recently launched a contest with the goal of raising awareness about pulmonary hypertension (PH) and gathering support for PH patients and their families. Of particular focus in this contest is a type of PH called CTEPH, or chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. Breathless Moments is a photo contest that aims to help the general population know and understand CTEPH better through a display of inspirational moments, sights, and events that can “take someone’s breath away.” The contest’s launch commemorates the inaugural annual CTEPH Awareness Day, which is a new collaborative initiative from Bayer and the Pulmonary Hypertension Association (PHA).

Pulmonary hypertension, a life-threatening, currently incurable cardiopulmonary disease, has a number of known causes — one of which is blood clots that form a pulmonary embolism that can lodge into the pulmonary vasculature. This increases blood pressure and decreases proper gas exchange, causing severe dyspnea, leading to the development of CTEPH.

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As of Tuesday, November 18, the contest is officially open to anyone who would like to send an entry. The photo must have captured a positive, breath-taking moment and be uploaded to the contest website at www.breathlessmoments.cteph.com. To complete an entry, each contestant will only have to answer four very simple questions about CTEPH before submitting the photo. The contest will run until Friday, February 27, 2015, after which a panel of PH patients will select their favorite entries. Selected photos will be featured in upcoming CTEPH awareness and fundraising events, plus an advertisement in the contestant’s local community.

“We are pleased to support the Breathless Moments contest and Bayer’s work to raise awareness about CTEPH,” said Rino Aldrighetti, President and CEO of PHA, Silver Spring, Md. “CTEPH is a debilitating condition that greatly impacts the lives of patients and their loved ones every day.”

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This contest and the new CTEPH Awareness Day are only some of the many support initiatives the PHA has launched and is currently working on to strengthen their mission to improve PH patients’ lives. The association is committed to bringing hope to the PH community through patient support, education, advocacy, and research. To know more about CTEPH, visit the PHA’s online patient resource at www.PHAssociation.org/CTEPH.

One of the many benefits of raising PH awareness is encouraging people to seek medical attention as soon as they start to notice symptoms. PH is a frequently misdiagnosed disease, and is usually diagnosed when the patient’s condition has become severe and more difficult to treat. Therefore, getting help early may save someone’s life, similar to what happened with PH patient and running enthusiast Roseanne Huber.