Orphan Diseases Stories
- Long-term marijuana users are reporting debilitating vomiting and stomach pain, part of a mysterious but possibly rising condition linked to weed.
- A dating app for sperm donors, a penis that was twice bitten, and a 70-year-old first-time mom — these just scratch the surface of the most bizarre medical stories of 2016.
- People who are born with extra body parts may not even know it, like some women who have two uteri. Others, like double penises and a set of horns, are more obvious.
- Lots of presidents are known for their achievements, massive failures, and deaths. For some, however, the chronic medical conditions they battled through their lives show another side to their stories.
- A baby born with a rare condition that made her tongue too big for her mouth is finally able to smile after a surgery to reduce its size.
- A 14-year-old with a rare genetic condition that causes his skin to blister and fall off still manages to inspire others with his refusal to succumb to his circumstances.
- Social media is highly successful with helping researchers find clinical trial patients for rare diseases.
- A 23-month-old toddler who has the rare Prader-Willi syndrome is permanently hungry, and requires constant care so that he doesn't "eat himself to death."
- In recent years, big pharma has shifted its focus away from developing "blockbuster" drugs to developing "orphan drugs" for patients with rare diseases. Why?