New Self-Care App to Support Self-Management for Primary Biliary Cholangitis (PBC)

TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - September 09, 2016) - To celebrate International PBC Day on September 11, 2016, Self Care Catalysts -- a patient intelligence and solutions company -- is announcing its newest self-care mobile app, created to support patients diagnosed with Primary Biliary Cholangitis (PBC). The team at Self Care Catalysts worked closely with the Canadian PBC Society to create a customized suite of self-care tools to support the total care for PBC, and to empower patients to play an active role in tracking their health story -- so that more can be understood about this rare disease.

PBC is a slowly progressive bile duct disease, which results from chronic inflammation of the small intrahepatic bile ducts -- the system of small tubes in the liver that helps drain bile. Chronic inflammation can lead to bile duct loss, liver scarring and ultimately cirrhosis, liver failure and even death. Although a cure for PBC does not currently exist, a combination of early detection, self-care strategies and treatment management can help patients continue to maintain a good quality of life. Management of PBC can include the use of prescribed medications, maintaining an active lifestyle, proper nutrition, and other remedies in wellness that are deemed appropriate for treatment.

"I speak to people across the country every day who are struggling with such a debilitating and life-altering disease. It makes the future seem uncertain," says Gail Wright, President of the Canadian PBC Society. "PBC Health Storylines helps patients gain a greater sense of awareness of their disease by allowing them to monitor what is most important to their self-management, while also helping to generate more knowledge about this rare condition."

PBC Health Storylines was designed to encourage patients diagnosed with the condition to live a normal lifestyle by providing tools that enable them to become engaged with their self-care. The health tools included in the app were created to make self-management easier by allowing patients to track and visualize patterns around their disease. Patients can track and monitor their medication, symptoms such as itch and fatigue, moods, and more. On top of their daily tracking, the PBC Health Storylines allows patients to sync with other health apps and devices such as Fitbit® and Jawbone®. The app creates a summary of the user's health on a feature called "My Storylines", using user inputs to create greater self-awareness of their disease, thus driving better healthcare outcomes and more informed conversations with their care team.

"We want to enable individuals who are diagnosed with PBC to live normally," says Grace Soyao, Founder and CEO of Self Care Catalysts. "It is more than just about taking medication. In the course of their journey, patients need to look after physical, mental, social, spiritual and work-related activities that are often set aside because treatment and symptom management take over. With PBC Health Storylines, we hope to enable total care for patients."

PBC Health Storylines is free for all users and is available on the Apple App Store and on Google Play in Canada.

About Canadian PBC Society

Founded in 2003 by a small group of volunteers, the Canadian PBC Society is dedicated to improving the lives of those living with PBC. Today, it is a registered charity with more than 350 members nationwide. Its mission is to inform and educate those with PBC and their communities, improve early diagnosis, provide compassionate support to those suffering from PBC and raise funds for research to help find a cure and effective treatment. For more information, please visit http://pbc-society.ca/.

About Self Care Catalysts

Self Care Catalysts is a patient solutions, intelligence and analytics company. They help their customers harness the patient clout, leveraging patient influence opportunities to drive healthcare innovation and commercialization to deliver better care and health outcomes. They are committed to advocating for patients and consumers when it comes to healthcare decisions. Their product and service portfolio are designed to provide patient-centric solutions, real world evidence, intelligence and insights to support business decisions across the pharmaceutical product lifecycle. For more information visit us on the web at www.selfcarecatalysts.com.

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