News

Increased Education Crucial to Improving Rare Disease Care, Survey Finds

Healthcare providers involved in diagnosing and treating rare diseases believe that increased physician education and collaboration with specialized facilities will have the greatest positive impact on treating these conditions over the next five years, according to results from a 2021 survey. Definitive Healthcare, a healthcare commercial intelligence company, conducted…

Boy With aHUS Develops Severe COVID-19 Infection, Case Study Reports

An 11-year-old boy with atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS) became severely ill following infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, according to a recent case report. “Our study [shows] that severe SARS-COV-2 infection can be developed in pediatric patients with co-existing [aHUS],” the author wrote. The report, “…

New Mutation in TSEN2 Gene Associated With aHUS, Study Finds

A newly identified mutation in the TSEN2 gene that causes craniofacial abnormalities, intellectual and developmental disabilities, as well as atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS), was found in six children, a genetic study shows. Based on these observations, scientists proposed naming the new syndrome “TRACK” which stands for TSEN2-related atypical…

#RAREis Representation Program Promotes Equity, Diversity

Horizon Therapeutics has launched its #RAREis Representation program aimed at increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion among patients with rare diseases. There are about 400 million people worldwide living with a rare disease; for many of them, access to diagnosis, care, and treatments can be challenging. Accessing better care depends on…

Rare Disease Day Panel Opens Window to Patient Experience

BioNews, the publisher of this website, hosted a virtual panel discussion on Rare Disease Day 2022, taking a deeper dive into what it’s like to live with a rare disease, including conversations about advocacy, mental health, survivor’s guilt, treatment of minority patients, and more. The Monday event, “A…

Q&A With RARE-X Disease Data Platform Founder, Nicole Boice

The nonprofit RARE-X is creating an easily-accessible, centralized data hub for all rare disease patient data that can help researchers answer questions about existing disorders, discover new ones, and work toward finding treatments. It was spun out of the work that Nicole Boice, founder and chief engagement officer of…