February 29 only comes around every four years – and this year, it’s extra special: Today marks the 9th annual Rare Disease Day. In the United States, a disease is considered rare if it affects less than 200,000 people at any given time.1 This year’s theme is all about elevating the patient voice, so we caught up with […]
All around the world, everyone impacted by a rare disease is taking everything day-by-day. But they can take each day hand-in-hand with the help and support of others. Today, on Rare Disease Day (RDD), EURORDIS (Rare Diseases Europe) and its global partners are calling on everyone to lend a hand to anyone affected by a
Day-by-day, hand-in-hand Read More »
Today, healthcare professionals, research advocates and many people living with rare conditions are coming together to observe Rare Disease Day. It’s all about raising awareness for rare and genetic diseases, improving access to treatments and learning more about what exactly makes a condition rare. In the United States, a disease is considered rare if it
Uniting for hope on Rare Disease Day 2014 Read More »
We’ve had the pleasure of talking with and featuring many PatientsLikeMe members on the blog over the years, but Nate is the youngest by far. He’s just 5 years old and is living with Alkaptonuria (AKU), a rare metabolic disease, sometimes called Black Bone Disease. Recently, we had the chance to chat with his mom,
Living with hope – An interview on AKU with Alycia and Nate Read More »
We wanted to take a quick look back and share how the PatientsLikeMe community has continued to change healthcare for good over the last year. Thousands of members added their voices to real-time research, all while providing support to one another and sharing about their personal health experiences. It really is a group effort, so
As 2013 winds down… Part I Read More »
Do you know what alkaptonuria (AKU) is? If you don’t, you’re not alone. AKU is a rare but devastating condition that causes severe, early onset osteoarthritis. It also causes cardiovascular problems, such as heart disease, kidney, bladder and prostate stones and other serious health complications. AKU is so rare that it’s estimated to only affect
Today, February 28th, is Rare Disease Day, a worldwide event showing solidarity with rare disease patients and their families around the globe. The theme for this year is “Raise and Join Your Hands,” and everyone is being asked to participate, whether you’re an individual, an office with 10 people or a public gathering with 1,000
Raise Your Hands for Rare Disease Day Read More »
Last week, we announced that we are creating the first open, global registry for alkaptonuria (AKU), in collaboration with the AKU Society. You may not have heard of this extremely rare disease – which causes a severe, early-onset form of osteoarthritis – but it plays an important role in the history of genetic diseases. In
A Brief History of AKU, the First Genetic Disease Discovered Read More »
Online Patient Network to Connect Patients With Rare Disease, Create Valuable Data for Research CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — January 9, 2013 — PatientsLikeMe and the AKU Society are working together to create the first open, global registry for patients with alkaptonuria (AKU), one of the world’s rarest diseases and the first genetic disease discovered. Nicknamed “black
