Marta Figueiredo, PhD,  science writer—

Parathyroid hormone (PTH) replacement therapy is superior to conventional treatment at lowering blood phosphate levels and the need for calcium and vitamin D supplements in people with chronic hypoparathyroidism, according to a review of clinical trial data. It appeared to be associated with higher-than-normal calcium levels (hypercalcemia) and had…

Children successfully treated for a cancer who undergo thyroid surgery for a secondary thyroid disease have a similar risk of surgical complications, such as permanent hypoparathyroidism, as children without a previous cancer, a single-center study in the U.S. shows. These findings add to an ongoing discussion of whether cancer…

Severe COVID-19 could lead to the development of temporary hypoparathyroidism, a case report suggests. This report represents the third case of hypoparathyroidism secondary to severe COVID-19 infection noted in scientific literature. These rare instances, along with previous reports showing that the virus may worsen previously well-controlled hypoparathyroidism, highlight…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has rejected Takeda Pharmaceutical’s proposed changes to address the risk of rubber fragments detaching into Natpara’s cartridge that led to the therapy’s U.S. recall in 2019. This treatment for hypoparathyroidism involves puncturing the medication’s cartridge rubber septum — a disk…

Daily injections of TransCon PTH can safely and effectively normalize calcium levels in the blood and urine and eliminate the need for conventional therapy in adults with hypoparathyroidism, according to six-month data from the Phase 3 PaTHway clinical trial. The long-acting hormone therapy, developed by Ascendis Pharma, was…

Starting immunosuppressive treatment early in the disease course normalized some signs of autoimmunity, halted the development of additional autoimmune diseases, and reversed total body hair loss in a girl with autoimmune polyglandular syndrome type 1 (APS1), a case study shows. While immunosuppressive therapies have been generally reserved for life-threatening…

Twice-daily treatment with Forsteo (teriparatide) — a synthetic parathyroid hormone fragment sold as Forteo in the U.S. — safely and significantly improves calcium and phosphate control in children with hypoparathyroidism who failed to respond to standard treatment, a small study in France shows. During treatment of at least…

A routine procedure called PGA — for parathyroid gland autotransplantation — often done following surgery to remove the thyroid gland, is associated with a higher risk of immediate hypoparathyroidism, a study shows. However, PGA did not raise the risk of permanent hypoparathyroidism, or that lasting more than six months.

Some mutations in non-coding regions of the calcium-sensing receptor (CASR) gene change the function of the resulting protein and are associated with hypoparathyroidism, a study suggests. While mutations in non-coding regions — DNA sections that do not provide instructions to produce a protein — do not directly alter the…

Calcium deposits — known as calcifications — in the kidneys and higher-than-normal levels of calcium in urine are common in people with chronic hypoparathyroidism, according to a small Danish study. Notably, the presence of these calcifications was neither significantly associated with the levels of calcium in the urine or…