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Children with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) switching from Spinraza (nusinersen) to Evrysdi (risdiplam) are generally optimistic about the switch as are their caregivers, according to a new study. The report, “How children and caregivers viewed the change from nusinersen to risdiplam for treating…

Men with spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA) had slower nerve impulses leading to their forearm muscles when their arms were exposed to cold temperatures, a small study reported. These slower impulses correlated with reduced hand grip strength, and were significantly longer in adults with muscle weakness at…

Many a think piece has been written about what Twitter, and social media in general, does to our brains. Experts have even weighed in on what doomscrolling, a term Merriam-Webster defines as “the tendency to continue to surf or scroll through bad news, even though that news is saddening,…

“Pneumonia! It’s been a few years. How’ve you been? Sorry to be blunt, but I’d rather you not stick around for too long since you’re a real pain in the butt.” Fortunately, my most recent encounter with my old acquaintance was relatively brief. I spent one night at the…

It all started with a little pink pill. I’m allergic to everything under the sun. Thanks to a complex, multistep treatment regimen, I more or less have my allergies under control. But there are days when not even my trusty Mucinex Sinus-Max nasal spray will do the trick.

You have to be in an introspective mood to examine your own flaws and weaknesses. It takes both maturity and courage, neither of which come easy. I don’t like to do it any more than all of you, but bravery is often rewarded with riches beyond comparison. By…

My husband, Randy, and I live in the North Carolina mountains. The New River State Park down the road lures campers and canoers in summer months. From late September through late October, the leaf-lookers join in. Fall is spectacular around this part of the state, with bountiful…

Content warning: The following contains mentions of medical trauma and death. I knew something was wrong. But I didn’t always. When my friend and fellow columnist Sherry Toh messaged me one evening to say she was sick, I assumed it was a cold. She would disappear for a few…

I was going to have a cardiac arrest. That’s what a doctor told my mum during my latest hospitalization for an infection, preparing her for the worst. My acid levels were too high, confirmed by a blood test and my struggle breathing. In his decade of experience, the…

I hoard poems like others hoard sports trophies. It’d be an exaggeration to say that I have a poem for every emotion under the sun. But I do have ones that stick with me, that ring through my head like a chant. Take, for example, Richard Siken: “Tell me…