To overcome challenges, foster a ‘hope, action, impact’ circuit: envision a hopeful future, take action, observe the impact, which then reinforces hope and drives further action. This provides sustained motivation and resilience, helping navigate difficult periods by focusing on incremental progress.
When facing a disease, actively search for existing drugs approved for other conditions that might treat your specific ailment. Many approved drugs impact multiple biological pathways, and the current system often overlooks these alternative uses, necessitating personal advocacy.
Connect with disease-specific advocacy groups for your condition, as they are often well-connected with global physicians and may have information about treatments or drugs being used elsewhere that your local doctor might not know.
Seek out and consult with the world’s leading experts for your specific medical condition, as they often possess unique insights into novel or less-known treatments and can provide valuable guidance beyond standard protocols.
After receiving a treatment recommendation, actively question your doctor about alternative or additional treatment options, including drugs repurposed from other conditions. This encourages a comprehensive exploration of possibilities and ensures you are aware of all potential avenues.
When experiencing overwhelming, prolonged pain or suffering, focus on enduring for very short, manageable periods (e.g., one minute, one hour, one day) rather than the entire duration. This strategy makes seemingly insurmountable challenges feel more achievable and helps maintain the will to continue.
During times of severe illness or challenge, lean on the social support of family and loved ones, as their strength and presence can provide crucial emotional and psychological support to help you persevere. Feeling their strength can literally help you keep going.
For localized breast cancer, discuss with your surgeon the injection of lidocaine around the tumor 8-10 minutes before surgery. A large trial showed a 29% reduction in five-year mortality for women who received this inexpensive treatment.
For Castleman disease, especially if other treatments fail, discuss with your doctor the possibility of using Sirolimus (Rapamycin), an mTOR inhibitor approved for organ transplant rejection. This drug has shown to induce long-term remission in patients with the disease.
For metastatic angiosarcoma, discuss with your doctor the potential use of a PD-1 inhibitor (like Pembrolizumab), particularly if PD-L1 expression is high in the tumor. This drug, initially for melanoma/lung cancer, has shown transformative results in some angiosarcoma patients.
If you have had a prior heart attack, especially with diabetes, discuss with your doctor the use of colchicine (at a slightly different dose than for gout treatment) to reduce heart disease risk. This drug has shown a substantial reduction in heart disease risk in this population.
For children diagnosed with Bachman-Bopp syndrome, explore the use of DFMO (a drug for African sleeping sickness) as early as possible. DFMO binds to and inhibits the overactive OCE1 enzyme, which can reverse severe symptoms and improve quality of life.
For Castleman disease, particularly if unresponsive to other treatments, discuss with your doctor the potential use of Ruxolitinib, a drug typically used for myelofibrosis. This drug has been successfully repurposed to treat Castleman disease patients.
For Castleman disease, discuss with your doctor the potential use of a TNF inhibitor (like Adalimumab). AI-identified and lab-supported evidence suggests this drug, initially for other inflammatory conditions, can induce remission in Castleman disease patients.
For Poem Syndrome, especially in severe, life-threatening cases, discuss with your doctor the use of drugs typically prescribed for multiple myeloma. Myeloma and Poem Syndrome share similar mechanisms, and these drugs have shown to induce remission in Poem Syndrome patients.
Even if healthy, proactively seek information about existing prescription or over-the-counter medications and molecules that could potentially extend your life or offset disease risk. This allows for informed decisions about potential prophylactic treatments, filling gaps in readily available health information.
Consider discussing with your doctor the use of aspirin to reduce the risk of colon cancer recurrence, especially if you have a mutation in the mTOR pathway. Aspirin has been shown to reduce recurrence risk, but is underutilized for this purpose.
Recognize that most approved drugs impact multiple biological pathways and mechanisms across the human brain and body, often far beyond their primary intended use. This understanding highlights the vast potential for drug repurposing.
Contribute to drug repurposing efforts by submitting ideas for off-label drug uses or volunteering your medical/scientific expertise at everycure.org/ideas or everycure.org/experts. This helps EveryCure identify potential new uses for existing drugs and gather expert guidance.
Help raise awareness about the potential of drug repurposing and the work of EveryCure by following them on social media (at everycure.org and beyond) and sharing their content, such as their TED Talk. Increased awareness can help more patients and doctors discover existing treatments.
Support the non-profit EveryCure financially by donating at everycure.org/donate to help fund clinical trials and research into drug repurposing. Financial contributions enable the organization to conduct the necessary work to prove and disseminate new uses for existing medicines.