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Want tots without allergies? Try sucking on their pacifiers

(HealthDay)—A new Swedish study suggests that parents who want to protect their infants from developing allergies should try a simple approach to introducing their children to the wide world of microbes: ...

Immunology created May 06, 2013 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (13) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Team finds antibody that transforms bone marrow stem cells directly into brain cells

In a serendipitous discovery, scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have found a way to turn bone marrow stem cells directly into brain cells.

Medical research created Apr 22, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (11) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

New immune cells hint at eczema cause

(Medical Xpress)—University of Sydney researchers have discovered a new type of immune cell in skin that plays a role in fighting off parasitic invaders such as ticks, mites, and worms, and could be linked to eczema and ...

Immunology created Apr 22, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (7) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Ebola's secret weapon revealed

Researchers have discovered the mechanism behind one of the Ebola virus' most dangerous attributes: its ability to disarm the adaptive immune system.

Medical research created May 02, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | 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

Tumor-activated protein promotes cancer spread

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center report that cancers physically alter cells in the lymphatic system – a network of vessels that transports and ...

Cancer created May 13, 2013 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (5) | 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 4.2 / 5 (5) | comments 0

Study finds key protein for firing up central nervous system inflammation

Scientists have identified an influential link in a chain of events that leads to autoimmune inflammation of the central nervous system in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis (MS).

Medical research created May 02, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Immune cells that suppress genital herpes infections identified

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and University of Washington scientists have identified a class of immune cells that reside long-term in the genital skin and mucosa and are believed to be responsible for suppressing ...

Immunology created May 08, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Transplant experts challenge assumption, describe pathway that leads to organ rejection

Transplant researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine challenge a long-held assumption about how biologic pathways trigger immune system rejection of donor organs in a report published online today in ...

Medical research created May 15, 2013 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Metastasis stem cells in the blood of breast cancer patients discovered

Individual cancer cells that break away from the original tumor and circulate through the blood stream are considered responsible for the development of metastases. These dreaded secondary tumors are the ...

Cancer created Apr 22, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Research shows oral supplement increases body's storage of antioxidant

(Medical Xpress)—Oral supplementation of glutathione is effective in increasing the body's stores of the antioxidant, said Penn State College of Medicine researchers in study results presented at a conference today (April ...

Medical research created Apr 23, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0

T cells rely on 'rheostat' to help ensure that the immune response matches the threat

A properly functioning immune system is a lesson in balance, providing protection against disease without attacking healthy tissue. Work led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists and published recently in Nature Im ...

Immunology created Apr 30, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Losing sleep? Scientists evaluate why

The issue of sleep deprivation has gone beyond the counting of sheep and into the scientific domain, as European researchers set up 'sleep labs' to study the biomedical and sociological factors keeping us ...

Health created May 03, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Engineered spider toxin could be the future of anti-venom vaccines

New engineered spider protein could be the start of a new generation of anti-venom vaccines, potentially saving thousands of lives worldwide. The new protein, created from parts of a toxin from the reaper ...

Medications created May 09, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Immunity (medical)

Immunity is a biological term that describes a state of having sufficient biological defenses to avoid infection, disease, or other unwanted biological invasion. Immunity involves both specific and non-specific components. The non-specific components act either as barriers or as eliminators of wide range of pathogens irrespective of antigenic specificity. Other components of the immune system adapt themselves to each new disease encountered and are able to generate pathogen-specific immunity.

Adaptive immunity is often sub-divided into two major types depending on how the immunity was introduced. Naturally acquired immunity occurs through contact with a disease causing agent, when the contact was not deliberate, whereas artificially acquired immunity develops only through deliberate actions such as vaccination. Both naturally and artificially acquired immunity can be further subdivided depending on whether immunity is induced in the host or passively transferred from a immune host. Passive immunity is acquired through transfer of antibodies or activated T-cells from an immune host, and is short lived, usually lasts only a few months, whereas active immunity is induced in the host itself by antigen, and lasts much longer, sometimes life-long. The diagram below summarizes these divisions of immunity.

For more information about Immunity (medical), read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

Related topics: immune system