http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. In infected individuals, HIV mutates rapidly to escape recognition by immune cells. This process of continuous evolution is the main obstacle to natural immunity and the development of an effective vaccine. A new study published by Cell Press in the March 21 issue of the journal Immunity reveals that the immune system has the capacity to adapt such that it can recognize mutations in HIV. The findings suggest that our immune cells' adaptability could be harnessed to help in the fight against AIDS. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-harnessing-immune-cells-effective-hiv.html Immunology Thu, 21 Mar 2013 12:38:36 EST news283088296 Last year, a team of researchers at Brown University discovered that certain skin cells use a light-sensitive receptor found outside of the eye to sense ultraviolet light and quickly begin pumping out melanin to protect against DNA damage. In a new study, lab members identify a key player in that biomolecular chain of events that could someday become a pharmacological target for improving this protective response. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-linchpin-skin-response-uva.html Medical research Mon, 21 Jan 2013 15:00:01 EST news277985598 When a person injures their knee, it becomes inflamed. When a person has a cold, their throat becomes inflamed. This type of inflammation is the body's natural and protective response to injury. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-childhood-adversity-depression-chronic-inflammation.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 03 Jul 2012 10:20:41 EST news260529633 Working in mice, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have devised a treatment that prevents the optic nerve injury that occurs in glaucoma, a neurodegenerative disease that is a leading cause of blindness. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-positive-stress-eye-glaucoma.html Ophthalmology Tue, 03 Apr 2012 16:55:39 EST news252690899 Kentucky women who smoke heavily may experience more chronic musculoskeletal pain, suggests a new study led by University of Kentucky researchers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-link-chronic-pain-women.html Addiction Wed, 28 Sep 2011 12:14:02 EST news236430830 A new study reveals that just as different soldiers in the field have different jobs, subsets of a type of immune cell that polices the barriers of the body can promote unique and opposite immune responses against the same type of infection. The research, published online on July 21st by Cell Press in the journal Immunity, enhances our understanding of the early stages of the immune response and may have important implications for vaccinations and treatment of autoimmune diseases. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-skin-sentry-cells-distinct-immune.html Medical research Thu, 21 Jul 2011 15:40:39 EST news230481622