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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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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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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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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

Ariel Castro enters the court room for a pre-trial hearing in ClevelandCLEVELAND (Reuters) - Authorities plan to present evidence next week to a grand jury as they seek to bring more charges against the former Cleveland bus driver accused of holding three women captive in his home, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty said Wednesday. Ariel Castro, 52, has pleaded not guilty to more than 300 charges against him, including rape and kidnapping, for holding the women and prosecutors are seeking to indict him on more charges related to later periods, McGinty said. ...


2013-06-19 09:06:52 -0500
(Reuters) - A freeway bridge under construction collapsed in Mesa, Arizona, on Wednesday, killing one worker and injuring another, a fire department spokesman said. The collapse occurred when four workers were removing supports from the bridge being built for the State Route 202 freeway, Captain Forrest Smith of the Mesa Fire and Medical Department said. One man was found dead under the debris. Another worker was injured and taken to a hospital for treatment, Smith said. The cause of the collapse was unknown. (Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Scott Malone and Gerald E. McCormick)
2013-06-19 09:13:05 -0500

A federal investigator carries yellow crime tape at field where Hoffa investigation is ongoing, in suburban DetroitBy Joseph Lichterman OAKLAND TOWNSHIP, Michigan (Reuters) - Investigators looking for the remains of former Teamsters boss, Jimmy Hoffa, in a suburban Detroit field continued their search for a third day Wednesday, seeking to verify a mobster's claim that the labor leader was buried alive on the property in 1975. The search of the 40- to 50-square-yard (33- to 40-square meter) area would continue for at least another 48 hours, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said late Tuesday. Police and FBI officials remained optimistic but had yet to send any evidence to the laboratory for analysis. ...


2013-06-19 09:26:05 -0500
The producers of an upcoming documentary on TWA Flight 800—which exploded and crashed into the waters off of Long Island on July 17, 1996, killing all 230 people on board—claim to have proof that an explosion outside the Paris-bound flight caused the crash. And six former investigators who took part in the film want the [...]
2013-06-19 09:16:24 -0500