Neurofibromatosis is a genetic nervous system disorder that causes tumors to grow around nerves. There are three types of neurofibromatosis: type 1 (NF1), type 2 (NF2), and schwannomatosis. An estimated ... Read More

According to the foundation Prevent Blindness America, while millions of Americans benefit from vision research, many eye diseases have no effective treatments or cures. In addition, for many rare eye ... Read More

In Marfan syndrome, a connective tissue disorder, the main artery which carries blood away from the heart, the aorta, is weak and fragile. Over time it enlarges, and it can ... Read More

Spina bifida occurs when the fetus is growing in the womb and its spine doesn't form correctly (a neural tube defect). Some of the vertebrae (bones in the spine) don't ... Read More

Researchers from the University Nottingham, UK, studied factors associated with an increased risk of kidney failure in people with cystic fibrosis (CF), an exocrine disorder. Several types of intravenous antibiotics ... Read More

June 2008 is Myasthenia Gravis Awareness Month in the U.S. Myasthenia gravis is an autoimmune neuromuscular disorder. It is not inherited, and it is not contagious. It is not clear ... Read More

Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency is an inherited genetic condition in which lack of the protein alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) may cause lung and liver damage. Photo © A.D.A.M.

MSNBC.com reports the story of Macie Hope McCartney, a baby diagnosed with a rare non-cancerous tumor while in utero, who came out of the womb twice--once for surgery and the ... Read More

Scleroderma refers to a set of disorders with similar symptoms. These disorders are rheumatic diseases of the connective tissue. Scleroderma is thought to be an autoimmune disorder, meaning that the ... Read More

May 2008 is Tuberous Sclerosis Awareness Month in the U.S. Tuberous sclerosis is a genetic disorder which results in tumor formation in many parts of the body. The genetic defect ... Read More

The Associated Press reports that Senator Ted Kennedy is undergoing brain surgery today at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, NC. Dr. Allan Friedman, chief of neurosurgery at Duke, will ... Read More

In the 1960s and 1970s, as many as 500 children in the United States per year were affected by Reye's syndrome, a serious, often fatal disorder. It is still not ... Read More