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Moxibustion, a form of heat therapy widely used in East Asia, given in combination with conventional treatments may be of benefit to people with ankylosing spondylitis, at least in the short-term, a study reported. Benefits, mostly patient reported after a four-week treatment, included better physical function and health-related quality of…

Next month’s annual conference of the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) in Washington, D.C., couldn’t come at a better time, says Marshall Summar, MD, chairman of NORD’s board of directors. “The pace of discovery in rare diseases has gone from brisk to hypersonic,” Summar told Bionews Services, publisher…

Depression is more common among people with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) than in the general population, with about a third of patients experiencing depressive symptoms, a meta-analysis reveals. The study, “Prevalence of Depression in Ankylosing Spondylitis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis,” was published in the…

Treatment with Novartis’ Cosentyx (secukinumab) led to a significant reduction in disease activity compared to placebo in patients with non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA), according to results from the ongoing Phase 3 PREVENT trial. Novartis announced that Cosentyx achieved its 16-week primary endpoint as well as all secondary endpoints. Moreover, Cosentyx’s favorable…

A specific type of MRI called diffusion-weighted imaging is sensitive enough to identify patients with early signs of axial spondyloarthritis, a study has f0und. Results of the study, “Diffusion-weighted Imaging Is a Sensitive and Specific Magnetic Resonance Sequence in the Diagnosis of Ankylosing Spondylitis,” were published in…

Treating ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients with Humira (adalimumab) or a potential biosimilar called IBI303 had comparable effects in reducing disease activity and improving quality of life, and showed a similar safety profile, according to a Phase 3 trial in China. The study, “IBI303, a biosimilar…

Baduanjin qigong training, a traditional Chinese exercise, may reduce fatigue and morning stiffness in people with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), according to a recent pilot study. The results, “A 12-week Baduanjin Qigong exercise improves symptoms of ankylosing spondylitis: A randomized controlled trial,” were published in the journal…

Eli Lilly‘s Taltz (ixekizumab) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of adults with active ankylosing spondylitis (AS), also known as radiographic axial spondyloarthritis. Taltz is a biological therapy, or a biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (bDMARD), that blocks…

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…

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,…