treatment

Imagine getting ready for bed at night. You sit down on the side of your bed with your feet touching the floor. The bedspread and sheets are turned over already, and you lie down on your mattress flat on your back. In that instance, you gasp for air and the…

At my 4-year-old son Cayden’s last appointment with the otolaryngologist (ears, nose, and throat doctor, or ENT), the doctor and I decided that we should look into getting a new set of tubes for Cayden’s ears. Cayden, who has infantile-onset Pompe disease, showed signs of mild hearing loss during…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has delayed a decision on whether to approve cipaglucosidase alfa, the biologic component of AT-GAA — a treatment being developed by Amicus Therapeutics for late-onset Pompe disease. The agency was unable to inspect a manufacturing site of WuXi Biologics in China…

Recently, we had a weird occurrence. For the first time, we had trouble accessing the port of my 4-year-old son, Cayden, for his infusion. A port is a small device that’s placed under the skin, usually in the chest, for multiple tasks, including blood draws, infusions, transfusions, IV fluids,…

Enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) was effective in a newborn with infantile-onset Pompe disease (IOPD) who developed treatment antibodies and had low blood levels of a type of immune cell called neutrophils, according to a case report. Researchers stressed the importance of including Pompe disease in newborn screening programs…

Enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) given as early as possible may lead to better outcomes in children with classic infantile-onset Pompe disease (IOPD), according to a long-term study conducted in Taiwan. “Our study demonstrates that administering ERT as soon as feasible and employing short-term hydrocortisone premedication leads to better…

If you’re the parent of a child with a rare disease, or if you have a rare disease yourself, you’re likely accustomed to juggling various appointments with rare disease specialists. My 4-year-old son, Cayden, sees many different specialists due to his infantile-onset Pompe disease. Recently, we had an…

Infusions of enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) are something my 4-year-old son, Cayden, is used to at this point in his life. He started receiving them when he was just 1 month old, shortly after we got news of his diagnosis of infantile-onset Pompe disease through Pennsylvania’s newborn screening…

The function of the diaphragm, a major muscle in breathing, is significantly reduced over a year in adults with Pompe disease relative to healthy people, a small study showed. These deficits, detected through a chest MRI test, were not accompanied by significant changes in lung function tests. In addition,…

I can remember my 4-year-old son’s first surgery like it was yesterday. Cayden was just shy of 2 months old when I watched the anesthesia team wheel away my tiny baby. It was the first of many surgeries for him, but also one of the hardest. We opted to…