Autoimmune Diseases

A physician's guide for anti-vaccine parents

In the limited time of an office visit, how can a primary care physician make the case to parents that their child should be vaccinated? During National Infant Immunization Week, a Mayo Clinic vaccine expert and a pediatrician ...

Immunology created Apr 23, 2012 | popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 1

Researchers prevent mice from developing diabetes

(Medical Xpress) -- Swedish research group headed at Karolinska Institutet has been able to prevent onset of Type 1 diabetes in mice that are genetically susceptible to the disease. Through injection of specifically ...

Diabetes created Jun 29, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Researcher steps closer to understand autoimmune diseases

Understanding why immune cells, called T-cells, attack the body is vital in the war against autoimmune diseases like diabetes. University of Alberta researcher Troy Baldwin is a step closer to understanding why the body's ...

Immunology created Mar 06, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Team creates new view of body's infection response

A new 3-D view of the body's response to infection – and the ability to identify proteins involved in the response – could point to novel biomarkers and therapeutic agents for infectious diseases.

Medical research created Aug 10, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Immune cells make flexible choices

Our immune system must be tremendously complex to respond to the unending assault of viruses, bacteria and cancerous cells. One of the mechanisms used by the immune system to cope with the huge variety of possible threats ...

Immunology created Oct 22, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Understanding autoimmune disorders

Kathy Krolikowski of Frisco, Texas, suspected something was wrong long before her doctors did.

Immunology created Apr 13, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Researchers uncover gene's role in rheumatoid arthritis, findings pave way for new treatments

University of Michigan research sheds new light on why certain people are more likely to suffer from rheumatoid arthritis – paving the way to explore new treatments for both arthritis and other autoimmune diseases.

Arthritis & Rheumatism created Jan 24, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Research: Lupus drugs carry no significant cancer risk for patients

People who take immunosuppressive drugs to treat lupus do not necessarily increase their cancer risk according to new research led by scientists at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC). ...

Medications created Jan 24, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Celiac disease linked to low bone density in kids

(Medical Xpress) -- Children living with celiac disease in Alberta may be at a higher risk for low bone-mineral density because of a lack of sun exposure and essential vitamins, new research reveals.

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created Jul 18, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Urinary tract infections 29 times more likely in schizophrenia relapse

Schizophrenia patients experiencing relapse are 29 times more likely than healthy individuals to have a urinary tract infection, researchers report.

Psychology & Psychiatry created Apr 03, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Antirheumatic drugs have minor effect on preeclampsia risk

(HealthDay)—The use of a disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) during pregnancy is rare and is associated with a nonsignificant increase in the risk for preeclampsia in women with autoimmune disease, ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created Nov 06, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Women with lupus have a higher risk for preeclampsia

New research reports that women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have a two-fold increase in risk of preeclampsia—a dangerous condition in which pregnant women develop high blood pressure (hypertension) and protein ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created Oct 30, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Two experimental drugs could improve psoriasis treatment

(HealthDay) -- A new type of treatment may be on the horizon for people with moderate to severe cases of the chronic skin condition known as psoriasis.

Immunology created Mar 28, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

'Personalized immune' mouse offers new tool for studying autoimmune diseases

Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) scientists have developed a way to recreate an individual's immune system in a mouse. The "personalized immune mouse" offers researchers an unprecedented tool for individualized analysis ...

Immunology created Mar 14, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Researcher develops non-toxic dandruff shampoo

Dandruff sufferers now have a non-toxic product to treat the condition, says a researcher at Georgia Health Sciences University.

Other created Apr 30, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | 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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