rare

A rare complication of bowel disease

An unusual link between ulcerative colitis and upper airway inflammation have been found by researchers.Ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease - often known together as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) - involves inflammation of the lower gastrointestinal tract. Researchers at the Mayo Clinic have now revealed a hitherto unexpected complication of IBD.// Two patients with ulcerative c...

FDA approves drug for rare liver disease

Hereditary tyrosinemia type 1( HT-1) is a genetic metabolic disorder that causes progressive liver failure and liver cancer in young children. It's a very rare disease.// It is not among the metabolic diseases that all newborns are tested for at birth, so often infants die undiagnosed. This is an absolutely fatal disease until now. Children born with such a very rare but very lethal li...

New cure for TPP - a rare blood disease

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine have tried a new cure on a woman with thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura(TPP), which has offered great hope. TPP is a rare blood disease in which one// of the proteins in the blood clotting system is missing. This protein is a regulatory molecule and, without it, one of the other clotting proteins sticks to itself, often triggering...

Blood Transfusion A Likely Cause For A Rare And Fatal Brain Disorder

vCJD is a rare, degenerative and fatal brain disorder. The only way to confirm vCJD is by a brain biopsy or autopsy. Data from a recent study links // the second case of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) to a blood transfusion. The first case of vCJD linked to a blood transfusion was discovered in the United Kingdom. At that time, 17 people who had received blood donated from don...

Lipoma Arborescens: A Rare Tumor Of The Knee

Lipoma arborescens (tree like, diffuse articular lipomatosis) is a rare, benign intra-articular lesion of unknown aetiology. //It is a very rare primary benign tumour of the synovium, and forms part of the differential diagnosis for a slowly progressive chronically swollen knee. About 50 cases of Lipoma arborescens have previously been reported, usually involving one knee, with occasion...

Govt Hospital Surgeons Perform A Rare Cardiac Surgery

In what can be called as a rare feat, cardio-thoracic surgeons at the Government General Hospital, performed surgical correction of a congenital heart defect in a 30-year old woman under 'spinal epidural anesthesia’. // This surgery has so far been done only under general anesthesia. This new surgical innovation has been named as 'awake open heart surgery', as the patient remains cons...

Jharkhand Govt Tie Up With Ramdev To Preserve Rare Herbal Plants

A herbarium will be set up in Jharkhand to preserve the rare herbal plants that are on the verge of extinction. The government has tied up with yoga guru Ramdev in setting up the herbarium.// The Tribal Research Institute (TRI) in the state will set up the herbarium at Bariatu in Ranchi with an initial investment of Rs.150,000. Baba Ramdev's Patanjali Yoga Peeth will collaborate with TR...

Holy Cow! Rare “Mad Sheep” Strain Suspected in Frane

The bird-flu’s entry into France seems to be followed by another variety of animal disease that is vying for news space. The French Agriculture Ministry// has announced its suspicion on two cases of an extremely rare strain of “Mad Sheep” disease in Central France. The “Mad Sheep” disease also called, Scrapie and ovine spongiform encephalopathy, has been noticed on two farms in cent...

Rare Sexual Syndrome In Women Calls For More Research

Most women who present to the sex clinic only report of failing to get aroused. But researchers highlight that some women, may present with just the opposite complaints//. Contrary to women who fail to get aroused, women suffering from the so-called persistent sexual arousal syndrome (PSAS) experience constant, but unprovoked feelings of excitement. Currently, very little is understoo...

Rare Fungus Infection, Not Due to Our Products, Says Bausch & Lomb

Bausch & Lomb Inc. is in the eye of a storm. Now, the company is working in conjunction with health professionals to ascertain the reason// behind a strange fungus infection among contact lens wearers. This infection initially cropped up in certain parts of Asia. Bausch & Lomb, who are producers of both contact lenses and lens solution, feels that the cause of Fusarium keratitis infec...

Exposure To High Aluminum Levels In Tap Water Lead To Rare Form Of Alzheimers

A study published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry highlights a case where a woman had a rare form of Alzheimer’s disease after being exposed to high levels of aluminum courtesy the tap water. // Carole Cross was 58 when she died in 2004. Chris Exley, of Keele University, published the results of her post-mortem. The incident has been directly linked to the 20 to...

Rare Bone Disease Traced To Faulty FOP Gene

The mystery surrounding a rare bone disease called fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP) has been resolved following the identification of a mutant gene// linked to the disease. It is this gene that triggers the formation of a second skeleton, making movement impossible. Nearly 2500 individuals are believed to be afflicted with the disease, worldwide. As the disease progresses,...

Rare Cancer- Subject of Study

Physicians at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center have developed new techniques that assist in the easy diagnosis of rare cancers. They published the results// of their study in the American Journal of Surgical Pathology. Robert F. Bradley, M.D said that tumors of the appendix that have metastasized through the abdominal cavity are all referred to as cancer. Bradley, a pathology...

Doctors Performed A Rare Ear Surgery On A One-year-old Kid

Doctors belonging to a hospital in Delhi is said to have performed cochlea implant surgery successfully on a one-year-old kid on Thursday. //They further claimed that the patient is the youngest to undergo such operation. The doctors at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital said that the girl from Gurgaon was the youngest kid to undergo such an implant in north India so far. "The chil...

Jaipur Girl’s Rare Feat: The Youngest To Pass Class 12 At The Age Of 1

Akansha Singh Saini might not enter the Guinness Book of World Records, but her achievement of passing the much-dreaded Class 12 exam at the age// of 11 definitely makes her a wonder-kid. Born on April 21, 1995, Akansha, daughter of Dhanpat Singh Saini, a medical practitioner, passed her Class 12 exam in the science stream as a regular student of Mangalam Vidhyapeeth School in the Bas...

A Mother Passes On A Rare, Terminal Brain Disease To Her Three Children

Scott and Nicola Smith of Leicester parents of six-year-old Callum Smith were told their son was suffering from the incurable disorder Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) a month ago//. The news they were dreading to hear came true yesterday with reports indicating that her other two sons, eight year old Connor, and five year old Jack too have the disease. People who suffer from this rare condit...

Rare Genetic Disorder Could Cause Strokes In Young People

A rare genetic disorder may be responsible for causing strokes in young people, though the condition's progress can be slowed using enzyme replacement// treatment, says a study. The disorder known as Fabry disease is characterised by attacks of burning pain in the hands and feet, dark nodular skin lesions and progressive renal insufficiency. It is caused by a missing or fa...

Rare Nerve Disease Causing Gene Identified

The Researchers from UK and US working together explained that they have identified the gene that was behind a group of rare, progressive childhood //disorders caused by an abnormal build up of iron in the brain. Explaining about the discovery of the PLA2G6 gene, whose mutated forms trigger several genetic disorders categorized as neuroaxonal dystrophies, they said that this could als...

Malaysian Indian Baby Suffering from Rare Disease, Pierre Robin Syndrome

Efforts are on to set up a trust fund for the treatment of a 14-month-old Malaysian Indian baby who is suffering from a rare disease.// L. Sreeram, who was born at the University Malaya Medical Centre, is suffering from the rare Pierre Robin Syndrome, according to reports here. The disease is a condition that is present at birth marked by a very small lower jaw (micrognathia). The ton...

Thailand Tops in Rare Type of Cancer

Three villages in Thailand's north-eastern province of Khon Kaen has the world's highest incidence of cholangiocarcinoma - a rare cancer of the bile ducts//, media reports said on Monday. According to a recent Khon Kaen University study, the rate of cholangiocarcinoma in the three villages of Phai, Mancha Khiri and Channaburi - situated in the Shi River basin of Khon Kaen, 380 km nort...

That Rare Cup of Coffee Might Not be good for the Heart

A new study has revealed that those who drink coffee very rarely are at a greater risk of heart attack than the heavy drinkers.// According to a study in the September issue of the journal Epidemiology, some people could get a heart attack within one hour of having a cup of coffee. There was a risk of almost 60% amongst moderate coffee drinkers, but the risk just quadrupled for those...

Rare Transplant Gives B.C Youngster 4 New Organs

A rare transplant at TG Hospital gave a B.C. youngster a bowel, liver, pancreas and stomach. Lori MacIver of Prince George, B.C. was told to prepare// for the death of her son. She said, "They were telling me to prepare and to accept, but I still wasn't on that page." Her son Gairett, 18, is now recovering following a high-risk, four-organ transplant operation on Aug. 1 at Toronto Gen...

John Hopkins Develops An Online Tool To Help In Research Of Certain Rare Diseases

The research team from Johns Hopkins and made available on the World Wide Web - a database of all genes known to contribute to cilia operations in the body. // The researchers had earlier identified flaws in the work of minute, hair-like structures on the surface of cells called cilia as such a common link. They had explained that the so called 'orphaned diseases' all have links associ...

Indian with Rare Disorder Reunited with Family

A 19-year-old Indian in British Columbia, suffering from an undiagnosed disorder and fighting to stay in Canada, has been finally reunited with his parents from his native Gujarat state after three years.// "I just hugged them... and I cried," Dhaval Patel told The Leader newspaper after his parents landed at Vancouver airport last week. Dhaval had come to Canada with his p...

Rare Disease Prompts Culling of 15,000 birds

The confirmation of Newcastle disease on an East Lothian farm has led to the culling of over 15,000 birds. This respiratory disease // is usually fatal for birds and a 3km protection zone and a 10km surveillance zone have been put in place around Fenton Barns, Drem, to prevent its spread. According to the Scottish Executive the disease did not affect humans and was not linked...

Rare Neurological Disorder Linked to Flu shot

Vaccination against flu can trigger a potentially debilitating neurological disorder called Guillain-Barre syndrome in rare cases// according to Canadian researchers, although they do stress that these findings should not make people shy away from getting their shots. Lead author of the study by the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES), Dr. David Juurlink, said, "It is very...

Dermatologists Provide Unique Evidence of Possible Cause of Rare Skin Condition

While kidney failure is a serious condition that requires extensive medical intervention, a small subset of these patients are prone to developing another grave condition known as Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis or Nephrogenic Fibrosing Dermopathy (NSF/NFD). // First recognized as a disease in 1997, NSF/NFD causes discoloration and thickening or tightening of the skin, resulting in pain, mu...

Gene Found for Rare Disorder May Reveal New Pathway in Mental Retardation

Studying mutations that give rise to a rare genetic disease, genetics researchers have identified a novel biological pathway //that may have a broader role during human development, potentially in cases of mental retardation and autism. An international team of researchers identified two genes that contribute to Cornelia deLange syndrome (CdLS), a multisystem genetic disease that aff...

Arsenic Compound Effective in Treating Rare Leukemia

Through their participation in a national study, patients being treated for a rare form of leukemia by doctors at North Shore University Hospital// (NSUH) and Long Island Jewish (LIJ) Medical Center have helped confirm that an arsenic compound, coupled with standard chemotherapy treatments, significantly increases long-term survival. Patients all had newly-diagnosed acute promyelocyti...

Newborns With Respiratory Distress Potentially Have Rare Genetic Disease

Newborns with respiratory distress should be evaluated for primary ciliary dyskinesia, a rare genetic disease that has features similar// to cystic fibrosis. According to Thomas Ferkol, M.D., Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, reports that about 80 percent of patients with primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) have a history of newborn respiratory distress....

Rare Mutation Causes Early Heart Disease and Metabolic Syndrome

Yale School of Medicine researchers have identified a rare defect in a single gene that poses a substantial risk for metabolic syndrome and early heart disease, the leading// cause of death worldwide. The international study, led by Arya Mani, M.D., assistant professor of cardiology, and Richard Lifton, M.D., chair of genetics at Yale, identifies a new pathway implicated in heart dise...

Rare Gonorrhea Strain Makes Diagnosis Very Difficult

A certain gonorrhea strain has titillated the curiosity of investigators, by defying the norm. A key enzyme, called prolyliminopeptidase//, which helps in the diagnosis of the disease, is absent in this strain of gonorrhea. The existing diagnostic evaluation methods do not recognize this new strain, making detection of gonorrhea extremely difficult. The enzyme in question, playing tru...

Rare Brain Condition Linked to Obesity Surgery

American researchers have cautioned that some patients who complete bariatric surgery can develop a rare form of brain condition related to vitamin// deficiency, called Wernicke encephalopathy. The researchers who published their findings in the journal Neurology, came about their conclusions by extensive survey of data relating to patients who had completed various types of bariatric...

Toddler Infected With Rare Side Effect of Smallpox Vaccine

In a gut wrenching tragedy a U.S soldier father passed on a rare side effect of the smallpox vaccination he had taken, eczema vaccinatum, to his 2-year-old son.// The boy who is currently being treated at University of Chicago's Comer Children's Hospital has developed a virulent rash over 80 percent of his body. Eczema vaccinatum is an unusual side effect of the smallpox vac...

FDA Approves First-of-its-Kind Drug to Treat Rare Blood Disorder

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved Soliris (eculizumab), the first product for the treatment of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria// (PNH), a rare type of blood disorder that can lead to disability and premature death. Soliris is classified as an Orphan Drug and is a new molecular entity containing an ingredient not previously marketed in the United States. "T...

Rare Case of Hepatitis B Virus Transmission Between Dental Patients Recorded

Researchers have documented a case of hepatitis B virus (HBV) transmission between two patients at a dentist's office in the United States//. While this kind of infection is exceedingly rare, universal vaccination against the virus would likely have prevented both cases, according to the authors. The case report, by John T. Redd, MD, MPH, and colleagues from the Centers for Disease...

Scientists Discover Rare ‘gene-for-gene’ Interaction That Helps Bacteria Kill Their Hot

In research published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, scientists have found that Photorhabdus bacteria produce// an antibiotic which inhibits the work of an enzyme that insects’ immune systems use to defend themselves from attack. Although such so-called gene-for-gene interactions are thought to be common in diseases, very few examples of a single gene i...

Mouse Model Points to Strategy for Treating Rare Muscle Disease & Kidney Disorders

National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has developed a strategy that will be tested as the first treatment for people with hereditary inclusion body myopathy (HIBM), a rare, degenerative muscle disease. In an unexpected finding, the research indicates that the approach also might benefit patients with certain kidney disorders....

Toddler Infected With Rare Side Effect Of Smallpox Vaccination Recovering

The quote there is nothing as lovely as the feet of those who bring good tidings, could not be more apt . There is finally, good news from the University of Chicago Comer Childrens Hospital, which was witness to one of the most horrific side effects of the smallpox vaccine, and unfortunately, on a toddler, of 2 years. The little boy spent seven weeks in the hospital and nearly die...

Doctors Remove Tumour from Heart in a Rare Surgery

In a rare surgery, doctors at the Wockhardt Hospital, Bangalore, have removed a large cancerous tumour from a 22-year-old patient's heart. The hospital said in a statement that Prabhu Ram was diagnosed to be ailing from a primitive neuroectodermal tumour (PNET) of the heart. It led to difficulty in breathing, high fever and swelling of the face. "Ram had a potentially...