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Nearly 1 in 10 Americans lives with a rare disease
(BPT) - Did you know that the same number of people die each year from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, or IPF, as breast cancer? And yet IPF, a rare and debilitating disease that causes permanent scarring of the lungs, is still relatively unknown. Fortunately, the focus on rare diseases like IPF is growing because they’...
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Rare Disease Day 2013: Maintaining bone health in people with multiple myeloma
(BPT) - In honor of the sixth annual Rare Disease Day, celebrated on Feb. 28, it is important to drive awareness about some rare cancers that are many times undiagnosed until the cancer has already spread. One particular cancer, multiple myeloma, often goes undiagnosed until the disease has spread to the bone. Multiple myeloma is a cancer of the plasma cells, a type of white blood cell found in the bone marrow.  An estimated 70,000 people in the United States are currently living with multi...
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Igniting the conversation about rare diseases
(BPT) - Each year, people across the world are invited to join together to raise awareness about rare diseases. Unlike more common conditions such as diabetes and breast cancer, many of these diseases, as well as the people affected by them, are not recognized by their own awareness initiatives throughout the year. Yet for people living with rare diseases and their loved ones, the path to a confirmed diagnosis, adapting to new treatment regimens, and facing the day-to-day challenges of thes...
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Cycling to help stop diabetes
(BPT) - The American Diabetes Association is challenging bicycle riders to be part of the movement to Stop Diabetes(R) by participating in the annual Tour de Cure(R), a cycling event to raise funds to help fight diabetes. Tour de Cure is a fun way to get out with your family, friends or co-workers and has routes designe...
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Rare diseases: Increasing awareness for better patient outcomes
(BPT) - Getting a diagnosis of any cancer can be frightening, but for those diagnosed with a rare cancer, the emotional toll can be much worse. For some of these patients, the journey to a correct diagnosis may take years, and once they receive an accurate diagnosis, it can be extremely difficult for these patients to find accurate information on their disease. One of the first things patients do is research everything they can about their illness, including connecting with someone who is al...
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national news
Lawmaker, university spar over 'control' of Chinese dissident in U.S.

Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng speaks to journalists following an appearance in New YorkBy Paul Eckert WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. congressman who has been blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng's main champion in Washington said people working for New York University have tried to keep him from meeting Chen, barging into a meeting on Capitol Hill and pulling Chen out on one occasion. U.S. Representative Chris Smith, an outspoken supporter of Chinese dissidents since the 1980s, described repeated instances of various people he says were from NYU interfering in his attempts to meet with Chen. ...


2013-06-20 02:08:46 -0500
North Carolina governor signs law aimed at restarting executions

North Carolina Republican gubernatorial candidate, former Charlotte Mayor McCrory meets supporters during U.S. presidential election in CharlotteBy Colleen Jenkins WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina (Reuters) - North Carolina's governor, hoping to resume executions in his state, on Wednesday signed the repeal of a law that has allowed death row inmates to seek a reduced sentence if they could prove racial bias affected their punishment. The Racial Justice Act, the only law of its kind in the United States, had led to four inmates getting their sentences changed to life in prison without parole after taking effect in 2009. ...


2013-06-19 20:20:27 -0500
Stop force-feeding Guantanamo prisoners: Senator

A selection of lunch meals offered to detainees are displayed in a food preparation area at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo BayBy Jane Sutton GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein urged the Pentagon on Wednesday to stop force-feeding hunger-striking prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp and called the practice "out of step" with medical ethics and international norms. Feinstein, a California Democrat who chairs the Senate intelligence committee, sent a letter to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, saying the Guantanamo force-feeding policy was also out of synch with policies in the civilian federal prisons. ...


2013-06-19 18:07:32 -0500
10 Things to Know for Today

FILE - In a Monday, Jan. 17, 2011 file photo, gun violence protesters participate in a lie-in during an anti-gun rally at the Capitol in Richmond, Va. Nearly six in 10 Americans want stricter gun laws in the aftermath of last month's deadly school shooting in Connecticut, with majorities favoring a nationwide ban on military-style, rapid-fire weapons and limits on gun violence depicted in video games and movies and on TV, according to a new Associated Press-GfK poll. A lopsided 84 percent of adults would like to see the establishment of a federal standard for background checks for people buying guns at gun shows, the poll showed. President Barack Obama was set Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013 to unveil a wide-ranging package of steps for reducing gun violence expected to include a proposed ban on assault weapons, limits on the capacity of ammunition magazines and universal background checks for gun sales. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:


2013-06-20 05:00:44 -0500