ASPIRE Blog

Melamed, Isaac, et al.“IVIG Response in Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome Correlates with Reduction in Pro-inflammatory Monocytes and Neuropsychiatric Measures.”Frontiers in Immunology, vol. 15, 2024, p. 1383973, https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2024.1383973. Accessed 3 Oct. […]

California Legislative Action Please follow this page and ASPIRE’s social media for updates – Facebook and Instagram. Please contact CALPANS with questions regarding California legislative efforts and ways you can get involved today. […]

  Bennett was a typically developing 7-year-old boy when he started second grade, the first year back to school full time after COVID-19, without masks. That December, he came down […]

Hi! My name is Skylar, and I was diagnosed with PANS in October 2023 after struggling with it for around 10 years.   I was 7 or 8 years old […]

Therapists need to be aware of when inflammatory disorders can masquerade as psychiatric conditions Therapy Today – September, 2024 – Lucy McDonald is a counselor at the Children’s e-Hospital, a […]

This is the journey of Emily, who is now 16. She began experiencing PANS symptoms in 2020 during the height of COVID-19; before that, Emily was a typical kid and did all the things that girls her age do.  Emily is now a high school junior and doing well.  However, her path to recovery was filled with despair and uncertainty. 

Tran, Michael; Amador, Alcides; and Camacho Bermudez, Sofia, “Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Other Specified Anxiety Disorder in an 8-Year-Old Post-respiratory Infection: A Case Report” (2024). Research Colloquium. 91.https://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/colloquium/2024/posters/91 Conclusions: This […]

Pol-Fuster J., Fernández de la Cruz L., Beucke J., Hesselmark E., Crowley J.J., de Schipper E., Brikell I., Chang Z., D’Onofrio B.M., Larsson H., Lichtenstein P., Kuja-Halkola, R. & Mataix-Cols […]

The battle with PANDAS is no joke, but there is hope. Throughout my journey, my mantra has been Never Ever Give Up. I am a fighter, a warrior, like all those with PANS/PANDAS. I have found fun ways to help me throughout my journey. For every infusion, I decorate my infusion center room with yellow butterflies, my port and IV, stuffed animals, and a wreath I made after one of my surgeries. I also wear one of my Brave Gowns and bring things to paint as well. I have also learned that you can revamp IVIG bottles into painted masterpieces or sculptures, which has been really fun, too.

When my daughter was young, she washed her hands a lot. We might have poked what we thought was gentle fun at her, saying she was “a little bit OCD”. Later, she began to disclose “bad thoughts”, which I assumed were the typical products of a child’s imagination. I told her we all had thoughts like that, and if we ignored them, they went away.

Residents of Tennesee, we need your help! This is the first year Tennessee has undertaken legislative efforts to pass a legislative mandate to secure insurance coverage for PANS PANDAS. SB2401/HB2484 and SB2402/HB2463 are insurance bills, one for state insurance and one for private insurance, that have been introduced in 2024.

Bleibach A, Sørensen CB, Skov L, Christensen KB, Debes NM. Reliability and validity of a newly developed PANDAS/PANS questionnaire. Eur J Paediatr Neurol. 2024 Sep;52:109-130. doi: 10.1016/j.ejpn.2024.07.008. Epub 2024 Jul […]