The thing that attracted me to a career as a journalist — the unpredictability — is precisely what I despise most about living with a chronic illness. Over my nearly 17 years battling sarcoidosis, I’ve had good and bad days, and others that have fallen somewhere in between. I…

Patients with advanced sarcoidosis have limited daily life physical activity, mostly because their lungs’ maximal oxygen uptake is reduced, a study shows. The findings of the study, “Daily life physical activity in patients with chronic stage IV sarcoidosis: A multicenter cohort study,” were published in the journal Health…

Fatigue is the most commonly reported symptom by sarcoidosis patients in Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands, according to a survey conducted by researchers from those countries. Nerve damage-related symptoms are a close second. The study, “The Burden of Sarcoidosis Symptoms from a Patient Perspective” was published in the journal…

A study reporting the case of a sarcoidosis patient infected with the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi highlights the importance of maintaining an increased awareness about potential infectious conditions, such as Lyme disease, in patients with new onset of sarcoidosis. The case study, “Systemic Sarcoidosis Associated with Exposure to Borrelia burgdorferi in a…

A literature review of research performed in specific populations from countries worldwide estimated a heritability of 60 to 70 percent for familial sarcoidosis, a study has found. The study titled “Clinical epidemiology of familial sarcoidosis: A systematic literature review” was published in the journal Respiratory Medicine. While the…

A case study diagnosing sarcoidosis upon autopsy in a patient with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) of unknown cause highlights the importance of physicians taking into account this uncommon disease association for quicker diagnosis and treatment. The study, “Sarcoidosis Presenting as Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome,” was…

Deaths attributed to sarcoidosis as the primary underlying cause increased between 1999 and 2016 in the United States, according to a recent observational study. The study, “Sarcoidosis deaths in the United States: 1999–2016,” published in the journal Respiratory Medicine, compared death rates among different regions, races, genders, and…

Two cardiologists in the Netherlands are using an artificial intelligence (AI) tool called the VMS Heart Analysis System, developed by Ventripoint Diagnostics, for the early diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension in sarcoidosis patients. With this tool, Marco Post, MD, PhD, and Marloes Huitema, MD, at the St. Antonius…

A research team at Yale School of Medicine successfully treated a person with disfiguring sarcoidosis with Xeljanz (tofacitinib) — an existing approved treatment against rheumatoid arthritis — resulting in a near-complete disappearance of skin lesions. The findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine in an…

After the U.S. Food and Drug Administration accepted aTyr Pharma‘s investigational new drug application for ATYR1923, the company announced it will initiate a Phase 1b/2a clinical trial in patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis. The company will collaborate with the Foundation for Sarcoidosis Research (FSR) for the…