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Results for search "Genetic Disorders".

Health News Results - 27

21 Feb
Remains Show Prehistoric Peoples Cared for Those With Down Syndrome

Remains Show Prehistoric Peoples Cared for Those With Down Syndrome

Rare gene-driven defects such as Down syndrome have occurred among human beings for many thousands of years, a new analysis of ancient DNA has revealed.

Not only did the birth defects exist, but these infants were often buried with care by their community. That suggests ...

20 Sep
Bats Don't Get Cancer, and Scientists Are Closer to Understanding Why

Bats Don't Get Cancer, and Scientists Are Closer to Understanding Why

Bats have an extraordinary ability to avoid cancer and handle infections, and researchers now think they might know why.

Specific genetic adaptations caused by rapid evolution have made bats extremely cancer-resistant, researchers report in the Sept. 20 issue of the jour...

11 Jul
Testing Entire Genome Twice as Good at Spotting Genetic Disorders as Targeted Tests Are

Testing Entire Genome Twice as Good at Spotting Genetic Disorders as Targeted Tests Are

Identifying genetic disorders in newborns and infants can help them get the care they need, but one approach -- whole genome sequencing -- appears far superior to another.

In a new study, researchers compared whole genome sequencing with targeted gene-sequencing. Th...

14 Jun
Disease That Permanently Bends Fingers Could Have Origins in Neanderthal Genes

Disease That Permanently Bends Fingers Could Have Origins in Neanderthal Genes

The so-called "Viking disease"causes the fingers of many aging northern European men to lock up in a bent position, and researchers now think they know why.

Genetic variants inherited from Neanderthal man appear to be the most powerful risk factors for developing Dupuytr...

19 May
Exercise No Threat to People With an Inherited Form of Enlarged Heart

Exercise No Threat to People With an Inherited Form of Enlarged Heart

People with the rare heart disorder hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) can safely engage in vigorous exercise, according to new research.

This finding could lead to fewer activity restrictions for people with this condition, which involves the heart muscle becoming thicke...

09 May
Should All U.S. Newborns Undergo Genomic Testing?

Should All U.S. Newborns Undergo Genomic Testing?

While newborns are only screened for about 60 treatable conditions, there are hundreds of genetic disorders that have targeted treatments.

Now, a national survey of experts in rare diseases found the vast majority support DNA sequencing in healthy newborns.

Testi...

20 Apr
Research Reveals Cause of Deadly Disease Affecting Native American Kids

Research Reveals Cause of Deadly Disease Affecting Native American Kids

Scientists say their new study has overturned settled science, finding a new cause for a metabolic disease that causes neurological damage and sometimes death in Native American children.

The good news is that this may lead to better treatment for the condition.

...

13 Apr
New Drug May Treat Rare Diseases That Make Exposure to Sunlight Painful

New Drug May Treat Rare Diseases That Make Exposure to Sunlight Painful

It sounds like the stuff of a vampire novel, but for people with a group of rare genetic disorders, exposure to sunlight can cause excruciating pain.

Now, an experimental medication is showing promise for helping them better tolerate the light of day.

In an early ...

16 Mar
Just 2 Kids Worldwide Are Known to Have This Rare Genetic Disease. Their Parents United for a Cure

Just 2 Kids Worldwide Are Known to Have This Rare Genetic Disease. Their Parents United for a Cure

When Yoni Silverman, now 13, was a toddler, his parents fretted as he missed milestone after milestone. The New York City couple took their son to a host of specialists, searching for answers about why he wasn't speaking and had difficulty with balance, among other development...

07 Mar
Most College Athletes With Genetic Heart Trouble Can Safely Play Sports: Study

Most College Athletes With Genetic Heart Trouble Can Safely Play Sports: Study

New research offers hope to elite athletes who have genetic heart conditions but still want to play sports.

In the new study, after a follow-up of seven years, researchers found that 95% of athletes with a diagnosed and treated genetic heart disease had no disease-trigge...

06 Jan
New Hope Against 'Incurable' Liver Disease That Kills Children

New Hope Against 'Incurable' Liver Disease That Kills Children

Patients with an incurable, genetic liver disease have new hope after an animal study showed that a single drug could reverse its effects.

Alagille syndrome is caused by a mutation that prevents the formation and regeneration of bile ducts in the liver.

About 4,000...

10 Nov
Gene Therapy Used for First Time to Correct Fatal Illness Before Birth

Gene Therapy Used for First Time to Correct Fatal Illness Before Birth

Doctors are hopeful that an innovative treatment performed before birth may help children born with the rare genetic, and often fatal, condition called Pompe disease.

A thriving Canadian toddler is evidence that treatment while still in the womb offers better outcomes.

23 Sep
Hints That Experimental Drug Might Curb a Form of ALS

Hints That Experimental Drug Might Curb a Form of ALS

People with a rare genetic form of ALS may benefit from extended use of an investigational drug, a new study shows.

The medication, tofersen, benefited patients with mutations of the gene SOD1. These mutations create a misfolded version of a protein, which leads to

19 Aug
Major Gene Study Spots DNA Tied to Autism, Other Disorders

Major Gene Study Spots DNA Tied to Autism, Other Disorders

More than 70 genes are very strongly associated with autism and more than 250 are linked to the condition, a major new genetic analysis has revealed.

The analysis is the largest of its kind ...

10 Mar
Science Brings Shortcut to Spotting 50 Rare Genetic Diseases

Science Brings Shortcut to Spotting 50 Rare Genetic Diseases

Scientists have developed a single test that can rapidly detect a collection of rare genetic diseases -- an advance they hope will shorten the "diagnostic odyssey" that people with these conditions can face.

The test diagnoses conditions known collectively as "STR-expans...

21 Feb
Early Trial Offers Hope Treating Rare 'Brittle Bone' Disease

Early Trial Offers Hope Treating Rare 'Brittle Bone' Disease

An experimental drug may help build bone mass in some adults with a rare brittle-bone disease, a small preliminary study suggests.

The disease is called osteogenesis imperfecta....

27 Jan
Did Your Gene Screen Turn Up Dangerous DNA? Study Finds Real Risk Is Low

Did Your Gene Screen Turn Up Dangerous DNA? Study Finds Real Risk Is Low

Most gene variants that have been labeled "pathogenic" may make only a small difference in a person's risk of actually developing disease, a new study suggests.

Scouring genetic data on more than 72,000 individuals,

28 Dec
New Clues to Sudden Unexplained Deaths in Young Kids

New Clues to Sudden Unexplained Deaths in Young Kids

Every year in the United States, a few hundred children die suddenly and without explanation. Now researchers have found gene variants that may contribute to some of those tragic deaths.

The hope, experts said, is that understanding the underlying mechanisms will eventua...

20 Dec
Highly Inbred, French Bulldogs Face Higher Odds for 20 Health Issues

Highly Inbred, French Bulldogs Face Higher Odds for 20 Health Issues

French Bulldogs are incredibly cute, sporting adorable snub snouts, big round heads, bright wide eyes and large bat ears.

Unfortunately, the physical traits that make them one of the most popular breeds in the United States and United Kingdom also saddle them with a host...

13 Dec
Could Gene Therapy Help Cure Sickle Cell Disease?

Could Gene Therapy Help Cure Sickle Cell Disease?

A gene therapy that could provide a permanent cure for sickle cell disease continues to show success through a third wave of patients, researchers report.

The therapy, LentiGlobin, restored normal blood function in 35 sickle cell patients who had the one-time procedure, ...

09 Dec
More Time Outdoors May Lower Risk of MS in Youth

More Time Outdoors May Lower Risk of MS in Youth

Children at risk for multiple sclerosis (MS) might find some protection from the disease by spending more time in the sun, a small study suggests.

Although MS is rare in children and young adults, those with relatives who have the condition have increased odds of develop...

18 Nov
Gene Therapy May Reverse Hurler Syndrome, a Rare and Severe Illness in Kids

Gene Therapy May Reverse Hurler Syndrome, a Rare and Severe Illness in Kids

Gene therapy might soon offer a new option for children with a rare genetic disorder that damages tissues throughout the body, researchers are reporting.

In a study of eight children with the condition, called Hurler syndrome, researchers found that the gene therapy was ...

08 Nov
Blood Test Looks at Patients' Whole Genome to Spot Rare Inherited Diseases

Blood Test Looks at Patients' Whole Genome to Spot Rare Inherited Diseases

Whole genome sequencing of blood samples improves detection of rare genetic conditions called mitochondrial disorders, British researchers report.

These disorders are inherited and affect about 1 in 4,300 people, causing progressive, incurable diseases.

Though they...

25 Oct
Why Are Cases of Pancreatic Cancer Rising in Young Women?

Why Are Cases of Pancreatic Cancer Rising in Young Women?

In his work with patients who have pancreatic cancer, Dr. Srinivas Gaddam was bothered by something that he was seeing.

"There are some patients that you can't stop thinking about because they've left a mark on you and you try your best to turn things around, but there's...

21 Oct
Ten Years On, Gene Therapy Still Beating Most Cases of 'Bubble Boy' Immune Disease

Ten Years On, Gene Therapy Still Beating Most Cases of 'Bubble Boy' Immune Disease

Nine of 10 patients with so-called "bubble boy" immune disease who received gene therapy about a decade ago are still disease-free, researchers report.

The gene therapy was developed at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), to treat the rare and deadly immune...

11 Sep
Child Cancers Are Rare, But Here Are Signs to Look For

Child Cancers Are Rare, But Here Are Signs to Look For

Most parents want their children to live carefree lives, so a diagnosis of childhood cancer is devastating. Fortunately, pediatric cancers are rare.

Yet it doesn't hurt to be watchful for the warning signs, suggest experts in childhood cancer from Penn State Health....

06 Sep
Insights Into Genes Driving Epilepsy Could Help With Treatment

Insights Into Genes Driving Epilepsy Could Help With Treatment

Danish researchers have found genetic causes for epilepsy in half of children they studied and said half of those could be treated with targeted therapies.

That's the upshot of genetic testing of 290 children born between 2006 and 2011. Some had been diagnosed with epile...