With views of trees from every window, pollution never crossed my mind when I signed my current lease. Which is how I ended up in an area with unhealthy air. If you live in the U.S., there’s a good chance you’re in one, too. The American Lung Association released its…

A short, in-hospital exercise program was found to decrease the levels of fats, or lipids, in the blood of people with sarcoidosis and to improve their physical health. In fact, researchers said that changes in the lipid profile could potentially be used to determine how well a patient is…

Eyelids fluttering open to a new day, I mentally searched my body for signs that anything was different. But a sore arm with a Band-Aid was the only evidence of my vaccination 12 hours earlier.  No headache, fever, chills, or any more fatigue than usual, which I was informed…

As anyone affected by a rare disease knows, treating the illness while trying to go about everyday life is an expensive undertaking.  But exactly how expensive — in terms of direct and indirect costs across rare disease populations — might still come as a surprise: almost…

Cells of the innate immune system called monocytes can be useful biomarkers to predict the outcomes of people with sarcoidosis, a recent study has found. The findings showed that patients with low levels of blood monocytes at diagnosis were more likely to achieve remission after two years and had…

I was in my 40s when I entered a neighborhood gym for the first time. I slunk over to the least-crowded row of treadmills, and still couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. Until then, my huffing and puffing had been done in private. But after my treadmill died, my…

Xentria is seeking regulatory approval to begin clinical trials to test XTMAB-16, its investigational TNF-alpha inhibitor for the treatment of sarcoidosis. Xentria submitted the request — in the form of an investigational new drug (IND) application — to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Feb. 26. The…

I view my biological clock as a stubborn, old mule. She dictates her pace, and getting her to change is hard. Real hard.  She wants no part of the foolishness known as daylight saving time (DST). But the U.S. is among fewer than 40% of countries worldwide that…

I know playing “what if” is a useless exercise when it comes to sarcoidosis. But during a four-day stint without cellphone coverage or internet access, I found myself doing it anyway.  This disease has many scary aspects, such as cardiac involvement, which I wrote about earlier this month. And…