News

UPA receives grant to advance porphyria diagnosis, treatment

The United Porphyrias Association (UPA) has received a five-year grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Rare As One Project to support efforts including advancing progress on the diagnosis, research, and treatment of porphyria. The association said the grant will “significantly enhance UPA’s ability to build a comprehensive…

hCG diet triggers symptoms of AIP, leading to diagnosis in woman, 34

The so-called hCG diet for weight loss, which combines a low-calorie diet with injections of the pregnancy hormone human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), aggravated acute intermittent porphyria (AIP) in a 34-year-old woman, according to a recent case study. This diet involves receiving hCG, a naturally produced pregnancy hormone that’s approved…

Iron infusion triggers EPP attack in young British man

An iron infusion for persistently low levels of hemoglobin, or the iron-containing protein that carries oxygen in red blood cells, triggered a sudden attack of erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP) in a 28-year-old British man. Managing the disease required avoiding triggers as well as receiving ongoing care to prevent future flares…

Certain brain conditions may be symptoms of AIP in rare cases

A recent case report highlights how acute intermittent porphyria (AIP) should be considered early in the process of diagnosis when patients show certain brain symptoms and heart problems. The brain conditions documented are posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES), which is marked by swelling in parts of the brain, and…

Over 50 medications may trigger porphyria attacks, study finds

By combing through a database from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), scientists in China have compiled a list of more than 50 medications that can trigger porphyria attacks. Their findings were reported in the study, “Drug-associated porphyria: a pharmacovigilance study,” published in the Orphanet Journal…