The ACD Conference held in Austin, TX in July 2018 was truly a wonderful experience and opportunity for so many of us in the CCDS community. While we were not able to attend, we were given the opportunity to view the presentation and slides as presented by renowned GAMT expert, Dr. Andreas Schulze. Continue reading
Our son Dylan, who is 5 and was diagnosed with CTD earlier this year, was originally diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 2. At that time Dylan had a series of seizures including multiple tonic-clonic seizures and 1 absence (that we are aware of). Dylan had 2 sleep EEG’s, the second EEG showed an abnormal EEG and he was put on Epilim Chrono sodium valproate. Continue reading
Did you know the Association for Creatine Deficiencies has an amazing patient registry? For rare diseases, patient registries are critical to understanding the progression of the disease and the outcomes families can expect. Our patient registry is strong but we need your help to take it to the next level and include genetic data. Continue reading
September is National Newborn Screening Awareness Month, and on that note, we would like to share with you the 2018 CCDS Symposium presentation “Qualifying Newborn Screening.” Continue reading
On a balmy night in late July we flew into Austin for the first Cerebral Creatine Deficiencies Syndrome (CCDS) Scientific + Patient Symposium. It was the kind of midsummer night when everything is possible and magic is in the air. Except that instead of magic we had science and instead of mythical creatures we had another rare sort of encounter: a hotel packed with researchers, creatine experts, and CCDS families. We had high expectations, were a little nervous, and some of us way too excited for having seen airplanes (aka Ehy-paynes) up close. Little did we know how our expectations would be blown away and how this symposium would become the beacon of hope we’d been searching for in the past year. Continue reading
Wow! I’m still processing all of the things I learned from the 2018 conference in Austin. The CCDS Symposium was incredible! For me, the information was invaluable and as a result, I feel more equipped going into doctor and therapy appointments. Even more amazing were the connections and networking that happened—as a result of the ACD bringing scientists, doctors, pharma companies, therapists, and families together. Continue reading
“It’s so Austin…” I heard that sentence a lot the weekend of July 27-29. I inferred it to mean several different things- odd, wacky, unique. The hotel elevator has to use your room key to unlock the button so you can go up a floor, and it had no rhyme or reason if it was going to go up or down… It’s so Austin! The doughnut shop around the corner, Voodoo Doughnuts (brought to all of our attention by Mac Cafferty), where you can buy a cereal topped doughnut or one shaped like a voodoo doll… It’s so Austin! The local zoo that only houses rescue animals and its very offbeat and rustic landscape… It’s so Austin! So it seemed fitting that our odd, wacky, and unique CCDS Family was all congregated together in this town known for the odd, wacky, and unique. This is how our “family reunion” of sorts went down for the Alveys. Continue reading
When they say Paris is magical, it’s true.
The ACD was honored to attend the CTD workshop, organized by Dr. Aurore Curie, Dr. Vincent des Portes, and representatives of DeficSience and Xtraordinaire. It’s seldom that a rare disorder can generate enough attention to be included on a conference program, much less, garner the respect and interest from medical experts around the globe to deserve its own dedicated meeting. Continue reading
In May, the ACD met with the Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children (ACHDNC). GAMT was nominated for inclusion on the federal government’s Recommended Uniform Screening Panel (RUSP) by Dr. Nicola Longo, Chief Division of Medical Genetics, University of Utah. The role of the ACHDNC is to determine if a nominated disorder meets their requirements for inclusion on RUSP before the disorder is moved forward for a scientific evidence review. The Evidence Review Board has no more than six months to approve or reject a nominated disorder. If approved by the Evidence Review Board, the disorder moves forward to the Secretary of Health and Human Services for final approval and recommendation to all states. Continue reading
