Autoimmune Diseases

Researchers complete largest genetic sequencing study of human disease

Researchers from Queen Mary, University of London have led the largest sequencing study of human disease to date, investigating the genetic basis of six autoimmune diseases.

Genetics created May 22, 2013 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Immune protein could stop diabetes in its tracks

Melbourne researchers have identified an immune protein that has the potential to stop or reverse the development of type 1 diabetes in its early stages, before insulin-producing cells have been destroyed.

Immunology created May 20, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Biomarkers discovered for inflammatory bowel disease

Using the Department of Defense Serum Repository (DoDSR), University of Cincinnati (UC) researchers have identified a number of biomarkers for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which could help with earlier diagnosis and ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created May 21, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Consuming coffee linked to lower risk of detrimental liver disease, study finds

Regular consumption of coffee is associated with a reduced risk of primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), an autoimmune liver disease, Mayo Clinic research shows. The findings were being presented at the Digestive Disease ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created May 19, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Stem-cell-based strategy boosts immune system in mice

Raising hopes for cell-based therapies, UC San Francisco researchers have created the first functioning human thymus tissue from embryonic stem cells in the laboratory. The researchers showed that, in mice, ...

Immunology created May 16, 2013 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (5) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Study identifies new approach to improving treatment for MS and other conditions

(Medical Xpress)—Working with lab mice models of multiple sclerosis (MS), UC Davis scientists have detected a novel molecular target for the design of drugs that could be safer and more effective than current FDA-approved ...

Alzheimer's disease & dementia created May 17, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Scientists develop potential new treatment for autoimmune diseases

Scientists at Montana State University have developed a therapeutic that has potential as a biological drug or probiotic food product to combat many of the more than 80 autoimmune disorders that affect some 23.5 million people ...

Medical research created May 17, 2013 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (6) | comments 0

Excess dietary salt identified as autoimmune trigger

For the past few decades, health officials have been reporting increases in the incidence of autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS). Now researchers at Yale School of Medicine, Harvard Medical ...

Medical research created Mar 06, 2013 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (16) | comments 11 | with audio podcast

Genes and their regulatory 'tags' conspire to promote rheumatoid arthritis, study finds

In one of the first genome-wide studies to hunt for both genes and their regulatory "tags" in patients suffering from a common disease, researchers have found a clear role for the tags in mediating genetic ...

Genetics created Jan 20, 2013 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (7) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Blocking protein expression delays onset of multiple sclerosis in mice, study says

(Medical Xpress)—Blocking the expression of just one protein in the brain delays the onset of paralysis in mice with a form of multiple sclerosis, say researchers at the School of Medicine.

Medical research created May 10, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Genetic mystery of Behcet's disease unfolds along the ancient Silk Road

Researchers have identified four new regions on the human genome associated with Behcet's disease, a painful and potentially dangerous condition found predominantly in people with ancestors along the Silk Road. For nearly ...

Genetics created Jan 06, 2013 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Patenting genes: Justices tackle big health issue (Update 2)

The Supreme Court seemed worried Monday about the idea of companies patenting human genes in a case that could profoundly reshape the multibillion-dollar biomedical industry and U.S. research in the fight ...

Genetics created Apr 15, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 1

Thymus teaches immune cells to ignore vital gut bacteria

The tiny thymus teaches the immune system to ignore the teeming, foreign bacteria in the gut that helps you digest and absorb food, researchers say.

Immunology created Apr 29, 2013 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Potential diabetes breakthrough: Researchers discover new hormone spurring beta cell production

Researchers at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) have discovered a hormone that holds promise for a dramatically more effective treatment of type 2 diabetes, a metabolic illness afflicting an estimated ...

Medical research created Apr 25, 2013 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (12) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Scientists find mechanism that triggers immune responses to DNA

(Medical Xpress)—Free-floating pieces of DNA in a cell's watery interior can mean bad things: invading viruses, bacteria, or parasites, ruptured cellular membranes, or disease. Genetic material is meant to be contained ...

Medical research created Dec 21, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast


Autoimmune diseases arise from an inappropriate immune response of the body against substances and tissues normally present in the body. In other words, the immune system mistakes some part of the body as a pathogen and attacks its own cells. This may be restricted to certain organs (e.g. in autoimmune thyroiditis) or involve a particular tissue in different places (e.g. Goodpasture's disease which may affect the basement membrane in both the lung and the kidney). The treatment of autoimmune diseases is typically with immunosuppression—medication which decreases the immune response.

This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

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