“Sarc-a-what?” That’s usually the response we get when we tell someone we have sarcoidosis. “What’s that?” they ask, and then tune out the long explanation we begin to give. “Oh, good,” they add, “at least it’s not cancer.” And that’s precisely why we need Sarcoidosis Awareness Month. Throughout…

The Foundation for Sarcoidosis Research (FSR) is offering ways to participate in National Sarcoidosis Awareness Month, observed each April, to call attention to sarcoidosis and the 175,000 U.S. residents thought to be living with the disease. Despite advances in research, sarcoidosis remains challenging to diagnose and…

The Foundation for Sarcoidosis Research (FSR) has trained its first group of volunteer patients tasked with educating and championing better treatments and outcomes for people living with sarcoidosis in the U.S. The 60 newly trained volunteer leaders will team up with and support members of the foundation’s…

Four sarcoidosis patients and researchers who work to better understand the disease and raise awareness about it will be honored at the Foundation for Sarcoidosis Research (FSR)’s Inaugural Sarcoidosis Crystal Awards Gala  Celebrating Connections, Collaboration, and Catalyzing Research. The gala, which will take place May 24 from 6…

A clinical trial is testing whether a smartphone app called SPARC, which prompts users to perform meditative breathing exercises and contains disease-relevant education modules, can help ease fatigue and improve life quality for people with sarcoidosis. The study (NCT05230693), sponsored by the Medical University of South Carolina, is…

Findings of defects in the heart’s right ventricle, as assessed with an MRI scan, can predict the occurrence of cardiovascular events in people with confirmed or suspected cardiac sarcoidosis, a review study showed. Particularly, scarring in the right ventricle muscle was a “strong independent predictor” of sudden heart-related death,…

When I was in grad school, I was a teacher’s assistant for an English literature class about 14th century author and poet Geoffrey Chaucer. During my first opportunity to teach the class, we focused on his poem “Parlement of Foules,” in which St. Valentine’s Day is designated as…

The Multidisciplinary Sarcoidosis Clinic at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine has joined as a founding member of the Global Sarcoidosis Alliance, an initiative led by the Foundation for Sarcoidosis Research (FSR). The alliance has nearly 40 founding members, with the…

When it rains, it pours … but when it snows, it’s sarcoidosis. Sarcoidosis is often referred to as a snowflake disease because no two cases are exactly alike. Symptoms can begin at any age and affect any area of the body. It is often a chronic condition,…

The European Commission (EC) has granted orphan drug designation to aTyr Pharma’s lead therapeutic candidate efzofitimod for treating sarcoidosis. Orphan drug status is granted to investigational therapies that show significant potential for treating chronic or life-threatening disease that affect no more than five in 10,000 people in the…