Being Sick Has Taught Me Empathy

It’s an experience every pet owner fears: Our 8-month-old German shepherd needed to be rushed to the emergency vet. Luckily, four hours and several hundred dollars later, he was sent home with some meds and pronounced just fine. While my husband and I were overjoyed that our beloved pup was…

A new U.S. initiative called Rare Disease Cures Accelerator–Data and Analytics Platform — dubbed RDCA–DAP — aims to accelerate treatment innovation across rare diseases by sharing existing patient data and promoting the standardization of new data collection. Launched during a virtual workshop in September, the U.S. Food and Drug…

Football and science seem to be disparate fields of play at first glance, but the nonprofit Uplifting Athletes is finding common ground by leveraging the popularity of college gridiron games to fund research for rare diseases. Its nearly two dozen chapters — representing college football teams across the nation…

This summer was a lovely one. My days were filled with friendship, travel, gardening, and delicious cuisine. I had enough work to keep busy, but wasn’t overloaded. We even brought home a new puppy — a gorgeous, white German shepherd that is smart and loyal. I had so many good…

A positive anti-proteinase 3 (PR3) ANCA test, lower serum creatinine levels, and cardiovascular involvement at diagnosis appear to raise the risk of relapse in people with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV), a review study reports. When combined, these factors may predict an individual’s risk of relapse within five years after diagnosis,…

Treatment with tofacitinib is well tolerated and effectively induces remission in people with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV), while enabling patients to lower their glucocorticoid doses, a small pilot study suggests. These results indicate that tofacitinib may represent a treatment option for active AAV. However, a larger and randomized controlled trial is needed…

I’ve learned countless new words since my diagnosis — phlebotomy, stenosis, biomarker, etiology, hemoptysis, to name a few. There are long strings of syllables for medications and treatment options. And various types of doctors with “-ologist” at the end of their title. Even the name of my disease is a…

A newly launched non-profit institute is seeking to advance research, and the development of new therapies, for people with rare diseases — a patient community with some of the largest therapeutic needs, but one that is often left behind. Named the Institute for Life Changing Medicines, the project was…

Participation in clinical trials exposes rare disease patients to financial, physical, and emotional pressures, according to the results of a patient focus group series. “Rare disease trial participants are running an endurance race they are highly motivated to complete, but these incremental burdens negatively impact their ability or willingness to…

A lower, 100 mg dose of Nucala (mepolizumab) is equally effective at treating eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA) as the standard 300 mg dose, and leads to less frequent adverse events, or AEs, a large European study showed. These findings suggest that a lower monthly dose of Nucala…