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Rare disease-themed videos glowed on a large screen before an audience of people in wheelchairs, with crutches, and bearing oxygen tanks this Nov. 9 and 10 in San Francisco. Disorder: The Rare Disease Film Festival strives to eventually host a film about every one of the nearly 7,000 rare…

High body mass index (BMI) may predict poor response to standard vitamin D treatment in people with chronic hypoparathyroidism, a pilot study has found. If confirmed in future studies, the findings may help clinicians adjust their vitamin D recommendations, suggest lifestyle changes to lose weight, or consider early therapy…

Four hours after surgery is the best time to measure intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH) levels to predict the risk of hypoparathyroidism following thyroidectomy, a study in patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma suggests. Hypoparathyroidism is an uncommon condition in which the body secretes abnormally low levels of…

A Phase 2 trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of TransCon PTH — designed to restore parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels within 24 hours — in people with hypoparathyroidism is now enrolling adults in North America and Europe. Called PaTH Forward, the study (NCT04009291) is planning to enroll about 40 patients with hypoparathyroidism who…

An easy-to-use scale accessing the severity of 17 symptoms linked to hypoparathyroidism from a patient’s perspective has been developed by researchers. If confirmed in future tests, this scale could be useful in evaluating disease burden and treatment effect in people with disease. The results, “Assessing…

Greater fatigue in postoperative patients with chronic hypoparathyroidism (hypoPT) is associated with cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy — a neurological impairment in heart rate control, a study suggests. The study, “Cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy as a cause of fatigue in chronic hypoparathyroidism…

The pharmacological properties of hPTH(1-34) allow the oral medication to be administered at different dosing regimens to suit the individual needs of patients with hypoparathyroidism, according to data from a Phase 2 study. The findings were presented in the poster “An Evaluation of the Pharmacodynamic Effects of…

Researchers may have found a way to decrease the risks of temporary or permanent hypoparathyroidism following thyroid surgery. It consists of a surgical technique to preserve blood supply to the parathyroid glands and an injection of small carbon particles that allow surgeons to spot the parathyroid…

Next month’s annual conference of the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) in Washington, D.C., couldn’t come at a better time, says Marshall Summar, MD, chairman of NORD’s board of directors. “The pace of discovery in rare diseases has gone from brisk to hypersonic,” Summar told Bionews Services, publisher…

A genetic screening of a large Chinese population has revealed 14 new mutations linked to the early development of hypoparathyroidism. The study, “Genetic screening in a large Chinese cohort of childhood onset hypoparathyroidism by next-generation sequencing combined with TBX1-MLPA,” was published in 
The Journal of Bone and Mineral Research.