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The world’s biggest gathering of rare disease researchers, patient groups, pharmaceutical executives, and government officials is planned for April 10–12 in a Washington, D.C., suburb. Some 1,200 people have already registered to attend the World Orphan Drug Congress (WODC) USA 2019, set to take place at the Gaylord National Harbor…

About 100 scientists, researchers, pharmaceutical executives, and others will converge on Austria’s capital city early next month for the 2nd International Congress on Advanced Treatments in Rare Diseases. The March 4-5 meeting, to take place at the Hilton Am Stadtpark Vienna, features 27 speakers on a variety of disorders…

Analysis of hypoparathyroidism symptom diaries is an appropriate measure of disease symptoms and how they affect patients’ quality of life, a study shows. The research article, “Psychometric evaluation of the hypoparathyroidism symptom diary,” was published in Dove Press. Hypoparathyroidism symptom burden is…

  A meticulous surgical technique based on parathyroid autotransplantation, and not vitamin D supplementation, is more efficient to preserve parathyroid function and avoid postoperative hypoparathyroidism following thyroid surgery, a study shows. The study, “Can preoperative vitamin D deficiency predict postoperative hypoparathyroidism following thyroid surgery?…

Postmenopausal women with post-surgical hypoparathyroidism treated with thyroid suppressors are less likely to experience bone loss compared to postmenopausal women with a normal parathyroid function, a study has found. The study, “Trabecular bone score and bone mineral density in patients with postsurgical hypoparathyroidism after total thyroidectomy for differentiated thyroid carcinoma,”…

Cash-strapped governments across the 28-member European Union are struggling to control runaway healthcare expenditures — at exactly the same time as the promise of new but expensive therapies to treat rare diseases has never been greater. That’s the paradox faced by pharmaceutical companies as well as patient advocacy groups in…