Not actual patients
The
aromas
of life
For three people, improving a lost
sense of smell connects them to others, their
surroundings and their memories.
For three people, regaining
a lost sense of smell connects them
to others, their surroundings and their memories.
Do not use if you are allergic to dupilumab or to any of the ingredients in DUPIXENT®.
Before using DUPIXENT®️, tell your healthcare provider about all your medical conditions, including if you:
- have eye problems.
- have parasitic (helminth) infection.
- are scheduled to receive any vaccinations. You should not receive a “live vaccine” right before and during treatment with DUPIXENT®️.
- are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not known whether DUPIXENT®️ will harm your unborn baby.
- A pregnancy registry for women who take DUPIXENT®️ during pregnancy collects information about the health of you and your baby. To enroll or get more information call 1-877-311-8972 or go to https://mothertobaby.org/ongoing-study/dupixent/.
- are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. It is not known whether DUPIXENT®️ passes into your breast milk.
DUPIXENT®️ can cause serious side effects, including:
- Allergic reactions. DUPIXENT®️ can cause allergic reactions that can sometimes be severe. Stop using DUPIXENT®️ and tell your healthcare provider or get emergency help right away if you get any of the following signs or symptoms: breathing problems or wheezing, swelling of the face, lips, mouth, tongue, or throat, fainting, dizziness, feeling lightheaded, fast pulse, fever, hives, joint pain, general ill feeling, itching, skin rash, swollen lymph nodes, nausea or vomiting, or cramps in your stomach-area.
- Eye problems. Tell your healthcare provider if you have any new or worsening eye problems, including eye pain or changes in vision, such as blurred vision. Your healthcare provider may send you to an ophthalmologist for an eye exam if needed.
- Inflammation of your blood vessels. Rarely, this can happen in people with asthma who receive DUPIXENT®️. This may happen in people who also take a steroid medicine by mouth that is being stopped or the dose is being lowered. It is not known whether this is caused by DUPIXENT®️. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you have: rash, chest pain, worsening shortness of breath, or a feeling of pins and needles or numbness of your arms or legs, or persistent fever.
- Joint aches and pain. Some people who use DUPIXENT®️ have had trouble walking or moving due to their joint symptoms, and in some cases needed to be hospitalized. Tell your healthcare provider about any new or worsening joint symptoms. Your healthcare provider may stop DUPIXENT®️ if you develop joint symptoms.
Indication
DUPIXENT®️ is a prescription medicine used with other medicines for the maintenance treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis (CRSwNP) in adults whose disease is not controlled. It is not known if DUPIXENT®️ is safe and effective in children with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis under 18 years of age.For Melinda, the smell of lilies always brings her back to her childhood at her grandmother’s house. In the mornings, the smell of the flowers from the garden next door would drift in through the open windows and fill the room.
“That smell just feels like a nice warm blanket,” said Melinda, a mom from Mechanicsburg, Va. “It’s so comforting.”
But when her sense of smell worsened in adulthood due to chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP), Melinda felt like those memories were locked away.
CRSwNP affects the upper airway, including the nose and nostrils, and can cause non-cancerous tissue growths called polyps to form in the sinus and nasal passages.1,2 It is a disease driven in part by type 2 inflammation. Symptoms of CRSwNP include nasal drainage, nasal congestion, facial pressure or pain and a decrease in sense of smell lasting for more than 12 weeks.2
Our brains have a strong capacity for smell recognition; studies estimate that humans can perceive as many as a trillion different scents.3 It’s no wonder that, as part of our central nervous system, our ability to smell plays a unique role in our perception of the world. Smells can evoke powerful emotions and trigger vivid memories.
So, when certain health conditions, such as CRSwNP, diminish our sense of smell, the impact can be apparent.1,4
“That smell just
feels like a nice
warm blanket”
Not actual patients
Smell and
sense
of surroundings
During Melinda’s battle with CRSwNP, she felt she lost not only an aspect of those memories of her grandmother’s gardens, but she also felt disconnected from the experience of enjoying everyday scents. Her sense of smell was a way to “connect the dots in the world around you,” and without it, things “just felt blank.”
The magnitude of losing her sense of smell became even clearer the day her daughter decided to microwave popcorn and left the bag in for too long. With her sense of smell dulled, she didn’t notice that the popcorn was beginning to burn. She was shocked, knowing burned popcorn usually has a potent smell.
Melinda’s sense
of smell helps
her connect the
dots in the world
around her.
Not an actual patient
Reimagining
symptom relief
Melinda cycled through various treatment options and surgeries. Nothing relieved her symptoms. Then Melinda’s doctor suggested she try DUPIXENT®️ (dupilumab) injection 300mg, a biologic that is used with other medicines for the maintenance treatment of CRSwNP in adults whose disease is not controlled.
Before Melinda started DUPIXENT®️, she told her doctor about all the medical conditions she had and medications she was taking.
She and her doctor talked about the potential benefits and risks of treatment, including the most common side effects such as injection site reactions, and some serious side effects including allergic reactions that can sometimes be severe, eye problems, inflammation of your blood vessels and joint aches and pain. DUPIXENT®️ is administered once every two weeks and was the first biologic nasal polyp treatment that’s an alternative to surgery.†
Today, she's less congested, breathing better, and her ability to smell has improved. “That's a really wonderful feeling.”
† In clinical studies evaluating DUPIXENT® 300mg + SOC vs placebo + SOC, 76% fewer patients taking DUPIXENT®️ required oral/injected steroids or surgery.
Important Safety Information
Do not use if you are allergic to dupilumab or to any of the ingredients in DUPIXENT®️.
Before using DUPIXENT®️, tell your healthcare provider about all your medical conditions, including if you:
- have eye problems.
- have a parasitic (helminth) infection.
- are scheduled to receive any vaccinations. You should not receive a “live vaccine” right before and during treatment with DUPIXENT®️.
- are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not known whether DUPIXENT®️ will harm your unborn baby:
- A pregnancy registry for women who take DUPIXENT®️ during pregnancy collects information about the health of you and your baby. To enroll or get more information call 1-877-311-8972 or go to https://mothertobaby.org/ongoing-study/dupixent/.
- are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. It is not known whether DUPIXENT®️ passes into your breast milk.
MelindaAge: 39Actual Patient
Connection
to the world
Growing up with a dad in the Air Force, Martin developed a passion for travel. A self-proclaimed foodie, Martin uses his senses of smell to explore new cultures. “One of my favorite things to do is connect with folks around the world and talk about food,” said Martin, an executive leader at a nonprofit in Sacramento, Calif. “To say, ‘I’ve had that before, I know what that is,’ or ‘What’s that made of?’”
Research shows that smell plays a dominant role in our experience of flavors.1,5 During his worldwide culinary adventures, Martin may not have spoken the local language, but he didn’t have to. The aromas and flavors were his way of communicating.
Martin didn’t fully recognize how central smell was to his travel experiences — until his sense of smell was impacted. Beginning in his early thirties, Martin struggled with his ability to smell due to CRSwNP. Despite trying different treatment options to relieve his congestion, his sensory system still couldn’t really recognize the aromas around him.
“My congestion would only be relieved temporarily,” he recalled.
Martin also found that he couldn’t tap into important aspects of his memories like Thanksgiving at home in Little Rock – the smell of his mother’s pecan pie and cornbread.
In hopes to end his frustration, Martin began searching for another treatment. He also tried surgery, but his nasal polyps kept returning, and his sense of smell was not improving. This didn’t just affect his experience of the now. Martin also found he couldn’t tap into important smell-related memories, like Thanksgiving at home in Little Rock, Ark. — the smell of his mother’s pecan pie and cornbread. That, he said, was devastating.
Eventually, Martin shared the extent of his challenges with his doctor, who prescribed DUPIXENT®️. DUPIXENT®️ targets two key drivers of type 2 inflammation, which may be an underlying cause of nasal polyps. After about a week and a half, Martin started to notice his sense of smell returning. DUPIXENT®️ can help to improve smell in as little as three days; however, individual results may vary.
Important Safety Information (CONT'D)
Tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins and herbal supplements.
Especially tell your healthcare provider if you are taking oral, topical, or inhaled corticosteroid medicines or if you have CRSwNP and asthma and use an asthma medicine. Do not change or stop your corticosteroid medicine or other asthma medicine without talking to your healthcare provider. This may cause other symptoms that were controlled by the corticosteroid medicine or other asthma medicine to come back.
MartinAge: 53Actual Patient
Portals
to the Past
While we often tend to think about the world in images, research has found that, for humans, smell can be tied to vivid memories.6
Known to his family as the “super smeller,” Mark could find a memory in almost any scent, and certain smells were inextricable from some of his most cherished childhood memories. Fresh-cut grass on a fall day brought him back to his high school football field. The smell of pancakes cooked in bacon grease transported him to his grandparents’ Formica kitchen table where he watched his grandpa wield a spatula over the stove and shout, “The hotcakes are cookin’!”
Mark, an educator in Utah, would relish in these happy returns to the past, even carrying on the tradition of cooking breakfast for his own family. As a result of his CRSwNP, Mark struggled to smell everyday scents like pancakes in the morning, which made Mark feel somewhat disconnected from the experience.
Known to his family
as the “super smeller,”
Mark could find a
memory in almost
any scent.
About two weeks after he started using DUPIXENT®️, Mark was celebrating Thanksgiving and noticed that he was starting to smell food cooking. A month following his first dose, Mark’s sinus congestion and sense of smell improved – allowing the aromas of his cuisines to accentuate his experience. “I could breathe better,” Mark said.
Since using DUPIXENT®️, Mark’s symptoms have become more manageable and his sense of smell has improved. His kids have even reinstated his title of the family “super smeller."
For Melinda, Martin, Mark and others struggling with CRSwNP, having their sense of smell improve helps them be more present in the moment and unlock cherished memories of the past.
MarkAge: 42Actual Patient