Autoimmune Diseases

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

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

Immunologists find a molecule that puts the brakes on inflammation

(Medical Xpress)—We couldn't live without our immune systems, always tuned to detect and eradicate invading pathogens and particles. But sometimes the immune response goes overboard, triggering autoimmune ...

Immunology created Sep 28, 2012 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (11) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

Eye color may indicate risk for serious skin conditions

Eye color may be an indicator of whether a person is high-risk for certain serious skin conditions. A study, led by the University of Colorado School of Medicine, shows people with blue eyes are less likely to have vitiligo. ...

Genetics created May 06, 2012 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (10) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

A vaccine for heart disease? New discovery points up this possibility

Most people probably know that heart disease remains the nation's No. 1 killer. But what many may be surprised to learn is that cholesterol has a major accomplice in causing dangerous arterial plaque buildup that can trigger ...

Immunology created Aug 14, 2012 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (9) | comments 15 | with audio podcast

Villain stomach bug may have a sweet side: Researchers reveal how 'bad' gut bacteria may help control diabetes

A stomach bacterium believed to cause health problems such as gastritis, ulcers, and gastric cancer may play a dual role by balancing the stomach's ecosystem and controlling body weight and glucose tolerance, according to ...

Medical research created Feb 08, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (8) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Researchers show possible trigger for MS nerve damage

High-resolution real-time images show in mice how nerves may be damaged during the earliest stages of multiple sclerosis. The results suggest that the critical step happens when fibrinogen, a blood-clotting ...

Medical research created Nov 27, 2012 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (8) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

New synthetic molecules treat autoimmune disease in mice

A team of Weizmann Institute scientists has turned the tables on an autoimmune disease. In such diseases, including Crohn's and rheumatoid arthritis, the immune system mistakenly attacks the body's tissues. But the scientists ...

Immunology created Dec 25, 2011 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (8) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Getting the dirt on immunity: Study shows early exposure to germs is a good thing

(Medical Xpress) -- Previous human studies have suggested that early life exposure to microbes (i.e., germs) is an important determinant of adulthood sensitivity to allergic and autoimmune diseases such as hay fever, asthma ...

Immunology created Mar 22, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (8) | comments 2 | 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

Clinical trial results support strategy for reversing type 1 diabetes

A phase I clinical trial has confirmed that use of a generic vaccine to raise levels of an immune system modulator can cause the death of autoimmune cells targeting the insulin-secreting cells of the pancreas and temporarily ...

Diabetes created Aug 08, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | 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

Antibodies reverse type 1 diabetes in new immunotherapy study

Scientists at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine have used injections of antibodies to rapidly reverse the onset of Type I diabetes in mice genetically bred to develop the disease. Moreover, ...

Diabetes created Jul 05, 2012 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (6) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Autoimmune disease—retraining white blood cells

Symptoms of an autoimmune disease disappeared after a team of scientists retrained the white blood cells. This method is extremely promising for treating diseases such as type I diabetes and multiple sclerosis.

Immunology created Dec 17, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Researchers identify new target for rheumatoid arthritis

Researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery have identified a potential new target for drugs to treat patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a protein known as IRHOM2. The finding could provide an effective ...

Arthritis & Rheumatism created Jan 25, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | 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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