24hoursworld

450,000 Austrians with “rare” diseases

450,000 Austrians with “rare” diseases
Primaria Nadja Haiden, Head of the Clinic for Neonatology at the Kepler Klinikum Linz

Today, February 28th, is internationally dedicated to the “rare diseases”, which affect around 450,000 people in Austria – a large proportion of them are children and young people. Only around six percent are considered to be specifically treatable with medication.

A disease is considered rare in the European Union if it affects no more than five in 10,000 people. An estimated five percent of the population has one of the 6,000 to 8,000 clinical pictures. According to experts, the path to a correct diagnosis in this country often takes several years.

About 50 percent of rare diseases affect children. “If the disease is congenital, a severe course becomes visible early on. At the same time, this means that the other half is not diagnosed until adulthood”, says Daniela Karall from the University of Innsbruck and Chairwoman of the Rare Diseases Forum. A massive difference to “classic” According to Karall, illness is that you can go to any practitioner with diabetes and get an initial consultation. In the case of rare diseases, on the other hand, this is not (yet) possible.

“Efforts should be made to ensure that those affected are cared for close to their place of residence, from diagnosis to care. The expertise should travel, not the patient”said Karall.

At the Kepler University Hospital in Linz, the specialists work closely together to enable affected children and parents to receive the best possible diagnosis and treatment. “Therefore, good networking within our clinic, but also with other centers, is important in order to be able to make a quick diagnosis and treat the disease according to the latest knowledge”says Primaria Nadja Haiden, head of the neonatology clinic at the Kepler University Hospital in Linz.

Source: Nachrichten

Source link

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest Posts