11 h. ago Blood test developed that could speed up diagnosis of rare diseases in babies

Scientists say new approach means effects of many genetic mutations can be analysed at once and yield results in daysA new blood-based test that could help speed up diagnoses for children born with rare genetic disorders has been developed by researchers in an effort to provide answers – and treatments – sooner.Rare genetic disorders include a host of conditions, from cystic fibrosis to diseases relating to the mitochondria – the powerhouses of our cells. However, getting a diagnosis can be arduous. Continue reading...

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17 h. ago Female boxer Georgia O'Connor 'spent months begging for help from doctors who told her it was all in her head'

O'Connor, from County Durham, announced earlier this year that she had been diagnosed with a 'rare and aggressive' form of the disease which was deemed 'incurable' by doctors.

Politics

62 h. ago Scientist verdict on 'rare incident' as mad cow disease found on UK farm

Experts say the risk of onward transmission of mad cow disease has been 'entirely removed'

Politics

63 h. ago Pop star getting chemotherapy for rare blood disorder as they share hospital snap

Singer Andy Brown, from the boyband Lawson, has told fans there's a "very high chance" he could develop Leukaemia if the rare blood disorder he's been diagnosed with isn't treated

Events

63 h. ago Deadly West Nile virus found in UK mosquitoes for first time

The mosquito-borne virus can cause a fatal neurological disease in humans in rare cases

Events

8 d. ago Gene editing helped a desperately ill baby thrive. Scientists say it could someday treat millions

A baby born with a rare and dangerous genetic disease is thriving after getting an experimental gene editing treatment made just for him

Science

1 week ago Town where 'nearly everyone is a cousin' ravaged by extremely rare disease

In the small remote town of Serrinha dos Pintos in Brazil, lots of children were left unable to walk and were losing strength in their limbs, leaving medics baffled

Politics

2 w. ago ‘Blood timber’: western firms fuel conflict and ‘slavery’ in Colombia

Trade in uncertified hardwood illegally logged in Chocó rainforest and imported by US and Europe is financing paramilitaries, says Environmental Investigation AgencyThe Atrato River winds through the dense rainforest of Colombia’s Chocó region for nearly 400 miles (600km) before spilling into the Caribbean Sea. Some of these tropical forests are among the wettest on Earth. Their flooded lowlands and swollen rivers are so impenetrable they have acted as an evolutionary barrier, making Chocó a haven for rare and remarkable species found nowhere else on the planet.“We have so many animals that you won’t even know the names of many of them,” says María Mosquera, a community leader in the region, whose name has been changed to protect her identity. Continue reading...

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2 w. ago My rare disease was getting closer to a cure. RFK Jr could undermine that | Jameson Rich

The Trump administration’s funding cuts to the NIH could destroy a wave of approaching research breakthroughsSince Robert F Kennedy Jr assumed control of the US health department in February, with a mandate to “[lower] chronic disease rates and [end] childhood chronic disease”, he has moved quickly to remake the US’s federal health infrastructure. But the Trump administration’s actions on medical research are already threatening that goal – and could end medical progress in this country for good.Kennedy’s office oversees the National Institutes of Health, the control center of disease research in the United States. Kennedy’s agency has killed almost 800 active projects, according to Nature, affecting medical research into HIV/Aids, diabetes, women’s health, heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s and more. The administration wants to cut the NIH’s budget up to 40% while consolidating its 27 agencies – separated by disease area – into just eight. Elon Musk’s Doge has been reviewing previo...

Politics

3 w. ago Boy, 4, given 'death sentence' from rare disease receives incredible breakthrough

Eisa Hussain was given a devastating diagnosis after his dad says he "didn't seem right"

Events

3 w. ago What is Hantavirus? Disease explained as autopsy confirms Gene Hackman's wife's cause of death

The actor's wife, Betsy Arakawa, died of the rare disease

Events

3 w. ago NHS leaving some patients with rare diseases to ‘fall through the cracks’, damning report finds

People with certain diseases are being left behind, report finds

Science

3 w. ago NHS letting some patients ‘fall through the cracks’ as government urged to do more

People with certain diseases are being left behind, report finds

Politics

3 w. ago Final autopsy results on Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, reveal complex health issues

Report confirms that Arakawa died of hantavirus and her husband, who had heart problems and Alzeimer’s disease, may not have realised she had diedTwo months after the actor Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, were found dead in their home in Santa Fe, final autopsy results on the couple have been released.These shed further light on the state of health of Hackman, 95, at the time when his and his wife’s bodies, along with that of one of their dogs, were found by a maintenance worker on 26 February. It is believed that Hackman died around a week after his wife, whose cause of death was hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare rodent-borne disease. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Growing concern as California hotel worker dies from same rare rodent disease that killed Gene Hackman's wife

An employee of a well-known California ski resort has died from the same 'tragic and alarming' rodent-caused illness as Gene Hackman's wife Betsy Arakawa.

Events

3 w. ago Rare diseases often go undiagnosed or untreated in parts of Africa. A project seeks to change that

Millions of people around the world live with rare diseases, most of them caused by a misstep in their genes

Politics

3 w. ago Genetic medicine can leave people with rare mutations behind. But there's new hope

People with diseases caused by rare mutations have fewer options and poorer prospects than other patients despite rapid recent advancements in the growing field of genetic science

Politics

3 w. ago Letter from the Pope gave Renfrew man 'hope' to fight rare genetic brain disease

Michael Conway paid tribute as he revealed a special connection with the late Pope Francis which gave him hope to fight Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD).

Politics

4 w. ago Congolese drug dealer wins legal fight to remain in UK after he is released from prison because his son has rare blood disease

The British asylum court dismissed the Home Office's attempts to deport the convicted criminal, ruling it would be 'unduly harsh' on his son, who has a rare blood disease.

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