News

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.

A case report in China suggests that a liver transplant may rescue hypoparathyroidism caused by Wilson’s disease, although the collected evidence is not yet sufficient to confirm this. A 19-year-old man with both conditions underwent a liver transplant to treat Wilson’s disease, a rare genetic disorder characterized by excess…

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…