Steve Bryson, PhD, science writer —

Acute intermittent porphyria (AIP) attacks can be stopped by regular peritoneal dialysis, a treatment that eliminates waste products by rinsing the inner abdomen, as reported in a case study. According to researchers, this study suggests that peritoneal dialysis may be used both as a preventive treatment and during AIP…

The growing incidence of certain types of cancer among the elderly may indicate that an association between acquired erythropoietic uroporphyria (AEU) — a late-onset form of congenital erythropoietic porphyria (CEP) — and bone marrow malignancies may be more common than previously thought. The case of an 80-year-old man who…

A rare and severe form of porphyria — congenital erythropoietic porphyria (CEP) — was diagnosed in an infant girl immediately after birth. The case report, “Perinatal onset of severe congenital erythropoietic porphyria,” was published in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood: Fetal & Neonatal.

A blood stem cell transplant can successfully correct defects in the body’s ability to make heme — a molecule that helps transport oxygen through the bloodstream — in people with bone marrow-based porphyrias, a small study showed. Thus, in patients with severe porphyrias, stem cell transplants should be considered…

Nearly 25% of people, mostly women, with acute intermittent porphyria (AIP) also have chronic nerve damage — a condition known as neuropathy — and use high amounts of pain medications, according to an analysis of a U.S. healthcare claims database. Based on these findings, when diagnosing and treating AIP…

A woman with the rarest type of porphyria, called congenital erythropoietic porphyria or CEP, was successfully treated by regular blood removal — a procedure called phlebotomy — which lowered her blood iron levels, reduced urinary porphyrins, and eliminated sun-sensitive skin blisters, a case study showed. …

People with variegate porphyria (VP), one of a group of related disorders, carry a significantly heavier disease burden — the overall impact of a medical disorder on a patient’s life — than those with hereditary coproporphyria (HCP), primarily…

Radiation therapy for a woman with vaginal cancer completely resolved co-existing porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT), a form of porphyria that affects the skin, a case study reported.  The case study, “Porphyria cutanea tarda exacerbation as…

Establishing normal urinary levels of delta-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) and porphobilinogen (PBG) in healthy individuals helps identify people with acute hepatic porphyria (AHP) with high accuracy, a study shows.  These reference values may serve to…

Panhematin (hemin for injection), an approved medication to treat acute intermittent porphyria (AIP), has been deemed an essential medicine by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a designation intended…