Once famously described as "orphan diseases, too small to be noticed, too small to be funded" in the Hollywood drama Lorenzo's Oil, rare diseases are getting unprecedented attention today among drug manufacturers, who are ramping up research efforts and marketing new medicines that promise fuller lives for children and other patients with these heartbreaking conditions.
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Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in men and second in women, with over 1.2 million cases diagnosed worldwide in 2008.
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New approaches to applying noninvasive imaging tests such as computed tomography, magnetic resonance, and positron emission tomography may play a bigger role in evaluating and managing patients with diabetes.
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Neovasc Inc., today announced the completion of patient enrollment in its COSIRA trial designed to further assess the efficacy and safety of the Neovasc Reducer, a novel percutaneous device for the treatment of refractory angina.
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Researchers discovered that small pieces of genetic material called microRNAs link the two defining characteristics of fit muscles: the ability to burn sugar and fat and the ability to switch between slow- and fast-twitch muscle fibers.
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Researchers at the University of Arizona have successfully determined the genetic mutations causing severe epilepsies in seven out of 10 children for whom the cause of the disorder could not be determined clinically or by conventional genetic testing.
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Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital and Duke University have identified genetic mutations that appear to underlie a rare but devastating syndrome combining reproductive failure with cerebellar ataxia - a lack of muscle coordination - and dementia.
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Patients with advanced bladder cancers that are surgically removed might need additional therapy to prevent recurrence in certain situations, a new UT Southwestern Medical Center study suggests.
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Johns Hopkins researchers believe they may have discovered an explanation for the sleepless nights associated with restless legs syndrome (RLS), a symptom that persists even when the disruptive, overwhelming nocturnal urge to move the legs is treated successfully with medication.
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Duke University biomedical engineers have grown three-dimensional human heart muscle that acts just like natural tissue. This advancement could be important in treating heart attack patients or in serving as a platform for testing new heart disease medicines.
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Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2013. For the first quarter of 2013, Rigel reported a net loss of $25.6 million, or $0.29 per share, compared to a net loss of $23.2 million, or $0.32 per share, in the first quarter of 2012. Weighted average shares outstanding for the first quarters of 2013 and 2012 were 87.1 million and 71.4 million, respectively.
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Laminopathies are hereditary diseases that affect mainly the muscle tissue. These diseases include for example Emery-Dreifuss Muscular dystrophy, dilated cardiomyopathy, limb-girdle muscular dystrophy and Hutchison-Gilford progeria syndrome.
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There is still no cure for asthma, so for 22 million people in the U.S., this chronic disease continues to be a daily burden no matter where they live. But it's not just air pollution they should be worried about. Factors such as pollen, secondhand smoke – even high rates of poverty, a large uninsured population or a high number of ER visits – can be critical signs that certain cities and states are worse for families with asthma. It is especially true for people with severe asthma.
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People who gain weight are more likely to give in to temptations but also are more thoughtful about their actions, according to a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
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Preterm infants may need to be given 800 international units (IU) of vitamin D a day to ensure they develop strong bones, according to a study to be presented Sunday, May 5, at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Washington, DC.
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For tens of thousands of years, humans ran on bare feet. Then we developed an assortment of specialized shoes, including - particularly since the 1960s - a seemingly limitless variety of running shoes.
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Cancer chemotherapy can cause peripheral neuropathy-nerve damage often resulting in pain and muscle weakness in the arms and legs. Now, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have discovered that chemo also induces an insidious type of nerve damage inside bone marrow that can cause delays in recovery after bone marrow transplantation.
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Montserrat Otero, a UPV/EHU lecturer, has concluded that physical exercise done with basic materials improves muscle strength and balance in women with osteoporosis
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Epilepsy that does not respond to drugs can be halted in adult mice by transplanting a specific type of cell into the brain, UC San Francisco researchers have discovered, raising hope that a similar treatment might work in severe forms of human epilepsy.
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Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved LIPTRUZET (ezetimibe and atorvastatin) tablets for the treatment of elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in patients with primary or mixed hyperlipidemia as adjunctive therapy to diet when diet alone is not enough.
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