Rare Disease Day 2015: How Rare Disease is Shaping the Future of Healthcare

Today is Rare Disease Day 2015, an international advocacy day to focus on the daily lives of patients, families and caregivers who are living with a rare disease. Rare disease communities have been responsible for the reinvention of many aspects of our healthcare system are truly paving the way for precision medicine.

We Are All Zebras

Rare Disease Day 2015: Day-by-day, Hand-in-hand

Today is the eight annual Rare Disease Day, an international advocacy day held on the last day of February — a rare day for rare people. Rare Disease Day 2015 puts the focus on the daily lives of patients, families and caregivers who are living with a rare disease. This year’s slogan is “Day-by-day, hand-in-hand”, which emphasizes the need for international cooperation.

Rare Disease Day 2015

Brain Imaging in Children with Neurological Disorders Links Language Delay to Chromosome Deletion

A study team of radiologists and psychologists has found that children born with DNA copy number deletions in a specific region on chromosome 16 previously linked to neurodevelopmental problems show measurable delays in processing sound and language [1].

Child in a MEG machine

 

The Precision Medicine Initiative

In his State of the Union address last month, President Obama announced the Precision Medicine Initiative, a bold new research effort to revolutionize how we improve health and treat disease.

The Precision Medicine Initiative

Cocoa Flavanols Improve Speed of Memory Tasks in Older Adults

A new study finds that dietary cocoa flavanols — naturally occurring bioactive molecules in cocoa — can improve the speed of a memory task in healthy older adults.

Dietary cocoa flavanols