News tagged with inflammatory response

Key mechanism for a common form of Alzheimer's disease discovered

Scientists from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, in collaboration with researchers from Icelandic Heart Association, Sage Bionetworks, and other institutions, have discovered that a network of genes involved in ...

Alzheimer's disease & dementia created Apr 25, 2013 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (5) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Researchers find link between blood clotting, immune response

Rice University researchers have found an unexpected link between a protein that triggers the formation of blood clots and other proteins that are essential for the body's immune system. The find could lead ...

Immunology created Apr 01, 2013 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Study finds immunity protein that ramps up inflammation, and agents that can block it

Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have discovered a new biological pathway of innate immunity that ramps up inflammation and then identified agents that can block it, leading to increased survival ...

Immunology created Mar 31, 2013 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

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

Mouse study offers clues to obesity-diabetes link

(HealthDay)—Obesity and type 2 diabetes are clearly intertwined, but researchers say they've found a way to weaken the connection between the two—at least in mice.

Medical research created Dec 06, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Study identifies a potential cause of Parkinson's disease

Deciphering what causes the brain cell degeneration of Parkinson's disease has remained a perplexing challenge for scientists. But a team led by scientists from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has pinpointed ...

Parkinson's & Movement disorders created Nov 19, 2012 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (6) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

High doses of Vitamin D help tuberculosis patients recover more quickly

For decades before antibiotics became generally available, sunshine was used to treat tuberculosis, with patients often being sent to Swiss clinics to soak up the sun's healing rays. Now, for the first time scientists have ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created Sep 03, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Control gene for 'conveyor belt' cells could help improve oral vaccines, treat intestinal disease

Scientists have found a master regulator gene needed for the development of M cells, a mysterious type of intestinal cell involved in initiating immune responses.

Immunology created Jun 17, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

New findings provide insight on long-standing pregnancy mystery

Researchers at NYU School of Medicine have made an important discovery that partially answers the long-standing question of why a mother's immune system does not reject a developing fetus as foreign tissue.

Medical research created Jun 07, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (7) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

New research finds cause of morphine side effects

A University of Colorado Boulder-led research team has discovered that two protein receptors in the central nervous system team up to respond to morphine and cause unwanted neuroinflammation, a finding with implications for ...

Medical research created Apr 02, 2012 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

How stress influences disease: Research reveals inflammation as the culprit

Stress wreaks havoc on the mind and body. For example, psychological stress is associated with greater risk for depression, heart disease and infectious diseases. But, until now, it has not been clear exactly how stress influences ...

Immunology created Apr 02, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (12) | comments 5 | with audio podcast

Study: Lungs infected with plague bacteria also become playgrounds for other microbes

Among medical mysteries baffling many infectious disease experts is exactly how the deadly pneumonic plague bacterium, Yersinia pestis, goes undetected in the first few day of lung infection, often until ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created Jan 30, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Immune mechanism blocks inflammation generated by oxidative stress

Conditions like atherosclerosis and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) -- the most common cause of blindness among the elderly in western societies -- are strongly linked to increased oxidative stress, ...

Medical research created Oct 05, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Ibuprofen, aspirin, other anti-inflammatory drugs reduce effectiveness of SSRI antidepressants

Scientists at the Fisher Center for Alzheimer's Disease Research at The Rockefeller University, led by Paul Greengard, Ph.D., and Jennifer Warner-Schmidt, Ph.D., have shown that anti-inflammatory drugs, which include ibuprofen, ...

Medications created Apr 25, 2011 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Team finds mechanism linking key inflammatory marker to cancer

In a new study described in the journal Oncogene, researchers reveal how a key player in cell growth, immunity and the inflammatory response can be transformed into a primary contributor to tumor growth.

Cancer created May 20, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Inflammation

Inflammation (Latin, inflamatio, to set on fire) is the complex biological response of vascular tissues to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells, or irritants. It is a protective attempt by the organism to remove the injurious stimuli as well as initiate the healing process for the tissue. Inflammation is not a synonym for infection. Even in cases where inflammation is caused by infection, the two are not synonymous: infection is caused by an exogenous pathogen, while inflammation is the response of the organism to the pathogen.

In the absence of inflammation, wounds and infections would never heal and progressive destruction of the tissue would compromise the survival of the organism. However, an inflammation that runs unchecked can also lead to a host of diseases, such as hay fever, atherosclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis. It is for that reason that inflammation is normally closely regulated by the body.

Inflammation can be classified as either acute or chronic. Acute inflammation is the initial response of the body to harmful stimuli and is achieved by the increased movement of plasma and leukocytes from the blood into the injured tissues. A cascade of biochemical events propagates and matures the inflammatory response, involving the local vascular system, the immune system, and various cells within the injured tissue. Prolonged inflammation, known as chronic inflammation, leads to a progressive shift in the type of cells which are present at the site of inflammation and is characterised by simultaneous destruction and healing of the tissue from the inflammatory process.

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