“Mind your health” – Recognizing mental health in May

This May marks the 65th anniversary of Mental Health Month, which has been observed by Mental Health America (MHA) since 1949. The MHA’s 2014 monthly theme is “Mind your health,” and it’s all about building public awareness for mental health and wellness while learning about the complex connections between the mind and the body. According… Continue reading “Mind your health” – Recognizing mental health in May

A day in the life of Software Engineer Jonathan Slate

Our members share a lot about their unique health journeys and experiences here on the blog. Just recently, Kim spoke about her shock with MS, Betty talked about her frustration finding the right diagnosis, and Lori’s been sharing about life on the lung transplant list. And as part of our ongoing “A day in the… Continue reading A day in the life of Software Engineer Jonathan Slate

Promoting better digestive health in April

The digestive system contains a bunch of organs (8 to be exact), everything from your stomach to your gallbladder. It’s important to be aware of what can affect all these parts, and this is why back in 1997, the International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders (IFFGD) designated April as Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Awareness Month.… Continue reading Promoting better digestive health in April

MS Patients Stepping into the Real-World

With 13,000+ members, the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) community is currently the largest community at PatientsLikeMe. Many of our members are just as active online as they are off. There are a countless number of ways for people to get involved in supporting research for the disease, and many patients choose to participate in the thousands… Continue reading MS Patients Stepping into the Real-World

UCB and PatientsLikeMe Partner to Give People With Epilepsy a Voice in Advancing Research

Today is an exciting day for PatientsLikeMe.   In a first-of-its-kind industry-patient partnership, PatientsLikeMe is joining forces with biopharma company, UCB, to launch a new community for people with epilepsy to capture real-world experiences of the disease and help advance research. The news release announcing the partnership is below. ****** BRUSSELS, BELGIUM and CAMBRIDGE, MA–(Marketwire –… Continue reading UCB and PatientsLikeMe Partner to Give People With Epilepsy a Voice in Advancing Research

Sharing to Feel Better

Sharing.  It’s a concept we all learn at a very young age.  Oftentimes reminisced as happening in the sandbox, we think back to our young selves giving up what we hold most dear (in this case, some cheap plastic toy) to allow someone else to benefit from it.  It seems so simple and obvious, but… Continue reading Sharing to Feel Better

Share On: Parkinson’s Awareness Month and PatientsLikeMe PD Community Anniversary

Did you know this April is both Parkinson’s Awareness Month and the 2-year anniversary of the PatientsLikeMe Parkinson’s community?  We invite you to celebrate with us all month as we share real-world patient insights and experiences of living with this disease…and we ask you to share on! The PatientsLikeMe Parkinson’s community has come a long… Continue reading Share On: Parkinson’s Awareness Month and PatientsLikeMe PD Community Anniversary

Happy 1st Anniversary Mood Community!

A year ago today, PatientsLikeMe launched our combined Mood community for patients with depression, anxiety, bipolar, obesessive-compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.  It was first announced to the world in Thomas Goetz’s article, Practicing Patients, featured in New York Times Magazine. Since then, more than 8,700 patients have joined the community, sharing detailed information about… Continue reading Happy 1st Anniversary Mood Community!

A new gene for ALS: What sharing your genetics could mean for research

In today’s issue of the journal Science two papers describe the discovery of a new gene for ALS (you can read the abstracts here and here). Around 90% of ALS cases are sporadic, i.e. we don’t know what causes them, but for 5-10% of patients the disease runs in their family (known as familial ALS,… Continue reading A new gene for ALS: What sharing your genetics could mean for research

Voices of Fibromyalgia: Patient Video

As we end the year, we give you the last 2008 video from PatientsLikeMe and the first of our new fibromyalgia community.  We asked this newly launched community to tell us “How are you overcoming fibromyalgia?”  This is what they had to say: Thanks to all of you who contributed your “voice” to this video.… Continue reading Voices of Fibromyalgia: Patient Video