For Linie Moore, Barbie dolls are a welcome escape from a devastating diagnosis that's left her tired and itching all the time.
"I itch so bad that at times it feels like little bugs are crawling on you," Moore said.
First diagnosed with primary biliary cirrhosis, or PBC, 20 years ago, she was told to prepare for a liver transplant.
"And I have a son that had just gotten into high school that I was worried about being without a mother," said Moore.
Dr. John Vierling said most patients take a daily dose of urso, a bile acid that improves the liver's ability to function, but not everyone responds. Now, there's a new treatment known as obeticholic acid that could help.
"We are going to have a therapy where we can really prevent the progression of this disease," said Vierling, chief of hepatology at Baylor College of Medicine.
It's the first new therapy in 20 years being tested in a phase two trial.
"Everything that pertained to liver test and function improved," Vierling said.
It's welcome news for Moore and the more than 3,000 members of the support group she started.
"PBC is not a death sentence," Moore explained.
Since PBC is not caused by drinking alcohol, Moore's group and the medical community are pushing for a new name, primary biliary cholangitis, to fight the stigma attached to the word cirrhosis.
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