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Rare diseases deeply affect not only the children who experience them, but also their healthy brothers and sisters, as their parents can attest.    Two entries in November’s “Disorder: The Rare Disease Film Festival” will focus on what siblings go through, according to the San Francisco festival’s co-founder,…

Levels of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) in circulation after pituitary surgery may help predict which Cushing’s disease patients will achieve early remission and which will eventually see the disease return, a study shows. Also, the earlier that patients reached their lowest peak of ACTH levels, the better their long-term…

Developing gene therapies for rare diseases is one thing. Creating gene-edited “designer babies” is quite another. German legal expert Timo Minssen outlined the potentially explosive ethical landmines surrounding such issues during a recent talk at the New York Genome Center. Minssen directs the Center for Advanced Studies in…

Measures of the degree of fat in bone marrow could be a reliable marker of bone health, helping doctors to predict the risk of fractures in people with Cushing’s syndrome, a study has found. The study, “High bone marrow fat in patients with Cushing’s syndrome and vertebral fractures”…

Pituitary surgery that restores healthy cortisol levels in people with Cushing’s disease only partly reverses changes in the brain that were caused by excessive levels, a study from China reports. Specifically, the surgery partly normalizes gray matter volume, where most nerve and other cells are found, but alterations to the…

Cushing’s syndrome can cause blood clots, which might interfere with the pinpointing of ACTH-producing tumors in uncommon places such as the lungs, a case report suggests. The study, “Pulmonary embolism as the presenting symptom and a confounder in ACTH-secreting bronchial carcinoid,” was published in the journal…

Imagine living your whole life with a painful disease so rare that only 25 others worldwide have what you have. And that you’re one of just six such people who’ve made it to adulthood. Neena Nizar doesn’t have to imagine. The 41-year-old English professor at Metro Community College in Elkhorn,…

Using topical creams with high corticosteroid concentrations to manage skin rash in infants can lead to the development of drug-related secondary Cushing’s syndrome, a case report shows. Therefore, the public needs to be made more aware of the adverse effects of these treatments in this young population, researchers say.

Most Cushing’s disease patients who achieve remission experience overproduction of thyroid hormones, followed by a return to normal levels,  within 12 months after surgery to remove a pituitary tumor, according to new research. The findings also showed that changes in thyroid hormones are associated with serum levels of cortisol. The research, “…

Cushing’s syndrome might lead to congestive heart failure — when the heart pumps blood inefficiently, causing stress in internal organs and fluid retention — in pregnant women, a case report suggests. If doctors suspect Cushing’s syndrome during pregnancy, they should make timely decisions to avoid complications for the…