Erica Zahn is passionate about raising awareness of rare diseases and disorders and helping people connect with the resources that may ease their journey. Erica has been a caregiver, and is a patient, herself, so she completely relates to the rare disease community--on a deeply personal level.
There is a man in my church whose 12 year old daughter has Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS). If you're not familiar with this particular form of epilepsy, let me just say…
Before we take a look at a rare disease called Freidrich ataxia, or FA, let's first understand the meaning of the word "ataxia." Ataxia includes loss or lack of muscle…
Epidermolysis bullosa (EB) is a disorder characterized by blistering of the skin. It also affects all the body's mucous membranes, so while the blisters may be visible, the person's lips, tongue, mouth,…
Hansen's disease, formerly called leprosy, is a long-lasting bacterial infection that is treatable with antibiotics. Patients are able to recover from the infection and lead normal lives. The past, however, was…
Every year, approximately 6,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, more commonly known as ALS. This disease is a degenerative condition that slowly kills off…
Last summer, I was sitting on my deck, reading the NY Daily News (don't judge me; I've been reading it since I was six years old), and I came upon…
Flip through any beauty magazine and all you'll see are women under that age of 30 selling skin creams, anti-aging products, make-up designed to capture that special glow of youth.…
When you're single, it seems like everyone on the planet is in a relationship. You see people holding hands, sitting side-by-side on the park bench, pushing babies in strollers. You…
While Trey Finomore, a preteen from Colorado, was visiting family in Ohio, his parents noticed he was collecting a lot of bruises. Most of the time, it's expected kids will…
Every year, my friend, Meg Marlowe, participates in the Walk to Defeat ALS, which benefits research for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. Meg's a great person, but beyond that, she has a very personal reason…
You never know what you're going to learn on any given day, which is part of what makes life so interesting. Here's an example: I was sitting at the gate…
For 26 years, police officer Dave Clement, put his life on the line every day for the people of Seattle. He often worked with the poorest of the poor, helping to…
I vividly remember being four years old and going to the doctor with my mother and sister for a very important event: my sister and I were getting two vaccinations.…
I used to work with a woman who had a houseful of kids, so she always had an interesting story to tell. One story that stands out to me is…
Growing up in the New York City area, the fear of ticks was drummed into me. The tiny little buggers could hitchhike home with us tucked in the waistband of…
If you had the opportunity to gaze into a crystal ball and see the future, would you do it? And if you did, and you noticed something amiss, would you…
Multiple system atrophy (MSA), formerly known as Shy-Drager Syndrome, while rare, presents many different challenges, the first of which is finding a doctor who recognizes the symptoms. This can be…
Years ago, there was a television show called Tales from the Crypt. From what I remember, a creepy-looking hand would open a creaky-sounding door and the viewer would "enter" the…
Arginase is an enzyme that helps break down nitrogen, a waste product of the body's protein metabolism. Nitrogen is converted into urea and then excreted from the body through urine.…
Carcinoid syndrome occurs when a carcinoid tumor secretes certain chemicals into the blood stream. While rare, most of these tumors are contained in the gastrointestinal tract. Symptoms include, but aren't…
Alveolar capillary dysplasia, or ACD, is an extremely rare disease. In fact, there are less than 200 cases discussed in medical literature. It's caused by a genetic mutation in the…
Short bowel syndrome, or SBS, results from the surgical removal (or resection) of part of the bowel. Reasons for this type of surgery vary, and include congenital defects or injury to…
The kid who sat behind me in high school chemistry class most likely had obsessive compulsive disorder, more commonly called OCD. I say this because whenever he was asked a…
I was sitting across the table from my biology study partner on a Saturday afternoon, when I noticed he was awfully quiet all of a sudden. I looked up from…
Carcinoid tumors are very rare tumors that develop slowly in the digestive tract or in the lungs. In its early stages, there are no symptoms, but as the tumor gets…
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