Image: JKU
“What opportunities does the university open up?” With this question, Vice Rector Elgin Drda introduced the “5th JKU medTALK” on the topic of “rare diseases” in the Medloft. When parents are confronted with it, “my child has something and I don’t know what, this vacuum is very stressful,” explained child and adolescent surgeon Johanna Ludwiczek from Kepler University Hospital (KUK) Linz.
Sometimes diagnoses are made in the womb. Careful education is important. “You need competent partners in these situations,” said Priv.-Doz. Gudrun Gröppel, University Clinic for Neurology. The experts gave an impressive description of almost unimaginably tragic clinical pictures. Because many of the 10,000 so-called “rare diseases” have serious characteristics.
More and more therapies
“We cannot treat the cause of 94 percent of rare diseases,” said Univ.-Prof. Wolfgang Högler, head of the University Clinic for Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.
But there are more and more specific therapies, the doctor gave hope. University research and studies are extremely important.
Source: Nachrichten
