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Takeda has issued a U.S. recall of its prescription parathyroid hormone Natpara, due to the potential risk of small rubber fragments detaching from the products’ external protection cap with repeated use. The recall includes all doses of Natpara (human parathyroid hormone, or PTH) for injection — 25 mcg,…

The probability a patient has of developing hypoparathyroidism and other complications after undergoing thyroid surgery tends to decrease if the procedure is performed by a surgeon who undertakes a high number of surgeries every year, a study has found. Results from the study, “Association Between Annual Surgeon Total Thyroidectomy…

Rare diseases deeply affect not only the children who experience them, but also their healthy brothers and sisters, as their parents can attest.    Two entries in November’s “Disorder: The Rare Disease Film Festival” will focus on what siblings go through, according to the San Francisco festival’s co-founder,…

Developing gene therapies for rare diseases is one thing. Creating gene-edited “designer babies” is quite another. German legal expert Timo Minssen outlined the potentially explosive ethical landmines surrounding such issues during a recent talk at the New York Genome Center. Minssen directs the Center for Advanced Studies in…

TransCon PTH normalizes blood levels of calcium and phosphate, and reduces the amount of calcium released in the urine in different animal models, a study shows. These preclinical results support the therapy’s use by people with hypoparathyroidism, the researchers say. The results, “Design and Preclinical Development of…

Imagine living your whole life with a painful disease so rare that only 25 others worldwide have what you have. And that you’re one of just six such people who’ve made it to adulthood. Neena Nizar doesn’t have to imagine. The 41-year-old English professor at Metro Community College in Elkhorn,…

Approximately 15% of patients undergoing surgery to remove the thyroid gland, called a thyroidectomy, develop permanent hypoparathyroidism, an analysis shows. The extent and timing of the surgery, the expertise of the surgeon who performs the procedure, and the levels of calcium in the patient’s blood immediately after surgery are…

Oklahoma suffers more tornadoes than any other state, has the highest per-capita rate of women in U.S. prisons, ranks second in the number of teen births per 100,000 teenage girls, and has the nation’s third-highest rate of uninsured residents — with 13.9% of all Oklahomans lacking health coverage. As if…

Screening newborns for genetic diseases with treatments that can prevent crippling or deadly progression, especially for rare disorders, has a ways to go in the United States. No state today tests for all 35 disorders recommended under a federal screening panel, and even in those that come close, rare…

A case report of a person diagnosed with Fahr’s disease related to post-thyroidectomy hypoparathyroidism highlights the importance of doing regular screening, including brain scans and blood tests, after this surgery. “Secondary Fahr’s Disease: A Consequence of Post-Thyroidectomy Hypoparathyroidism” was published in the European Journal of Case Reports…