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October 7, 2008 8:42:53 PM CDT

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Stories related to: immune system

Stories

17 Stories

  • October 2008

    • Genetic Hiccup Causes Obesity In Mice: Study

      Reuters  |  Oct 2, 08 5:07 PM CDT

      Genetic Hiccup Causes Obesity In Mice: Study

      (Newser) - Scientists have discovered an immune system pathway in the brain that they think is the root cause of diseases related to obesity, Reuters reports. When mice were overfed, the hypothalamus secreted a compound that suppressed the conversion of food into energy, and led to inflammation associated with heart disease and diabetes. Altering the gene responsible through genetic engineering kept the mice slim and healthy. More »

      Tags

      obesity  • heart disease  • diabetes  • scientific study  • immune system  • gene therapy  • genetic engineering  • chemicals and obesity  • hypothalamus

  • August 2008

    • Women on Pill Choose the 'Wrong' Man

      Daily Telegraph (UK)  |  Aug 13, 08 3:55 AM CDT

      Women on Pill Choose the 'Wrong' Man

      (Newser) - The pill skews women's choice of partners because the contraceptive disrupts the sense of smell, according to new research. Women usually seek partners who have an odor that indicates dissimilar genes. That's important because a gene mix tends to produce healthier offspring. But research shows women using the pill tend to choose men with the wrong genetic mix, reports the Daily Telegraph . More »

      Tags

      divorce  • sex  • genes  • immune system  • miscarriage

    • How Did Bernie Mac Slip Away?

      People  |  Aug 10, 08 8:10 AM CDT

      How Did Bernie Mac Slip Away?

      (Newser) - Suffering from a rare lung disease, Bernie Mac was on medication to suppress his immune system—and that that made him vulnerable to the pneumonia that ended his life, his sister-in-law told People . He was hospitalized 8 days earlier than reported with a fever and trouble breathing, and “was in intensive care the whole time,” she said. At the hospital, Mac became infected with a second strain of pneumonia. More »

      Tags

      death  • illness  • immune system  • pneumonia  • Bernie Mac

    • Mac's Illness Spotlights Sarcoidosis

      Chicago Tribune  |  Aug 5, 08 2:56 PM CDT

      Mac's Illness Spotlights Sarcoidosis

      (Newser) - Bernie Mac is in the hospital, and although his publicists deny it, the pneumonia for which the comedian's being treated may have something to do with sarcoidosis, the Chicago Tribune reports. The rare immune system disorder has been in remission since 2005. More »

      Tags

      disease  • immune system  • lung disease  • Bernie Mac  • sarcoidosis  • pollen  • lymph nodes

  • July 2008

    • Tobacco May Help Cure Cancer

      Newsweek  |  Jul 22, 08 5:39 PM CDT

      Tobacco May Help Cure Cancer

      (Newser) - Scientists are trying to use the tobacco plant to produce a cancer vaccine, Newsweek reports. Ironic though it may be, the plant could someday offer fast and cheap production of antibodies personalized for individual’s tumor cells. In the first study of its kind, scientists found that the plant-based vaccine triggered the immune systems of patients with a type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma without dangerous side effects. A larger study will now determine how effective the vaccine is at fighting the cancer. More »

      Tags

      cancer  • cancer research  • vaccine  • tobacco  • immune system  • tumor

  • June 2008

    • Melanoma Cured by Cloning Patient's Own Immune Cells

      Scientific American  |  Jun 19, 08 6:11 AM CDT

      Melanoma Cured by Cloning Patient's Own Immune Cells

      (Newser) - Scientists eliminated a man's late-stage melanoma by giving the body's own defenses a massive boost, Scientific American reports. They removed infection-fighting white blood cells from the patient's body, cloned them in the lab until they numbered in the billions, and injected them back into the patient. He was tumor-free 2 months later and remained so for 2 years.  More »

      Tags

      cancer  • cancer research  • immune system  • tumor  • chemotherapy  • immunotherapy

  • May 2008

    • Pregnancy Stress Ups Kid's Asthma Risk

      Reuters  |  May 19, 08 4:12 PM CDT

      Pregnancy Stress Ups Kid's Asthma Risk

      (Newser) - Stress an expectant mother experiences can increase her child’s predisposition to allergies and asthma, Reuters reports. Mothers-to-be with high stress levels gave birth to babies with high levels of an immune compound involved in the allergenic response, Harvard researchers found—even when their environmental exposure to allergens was low. More »

      Tags

      pregnancy  • Harvard  • stress  • mothers  • immune system  • infant  • infants  • allergic reaction

  • April 2008

    • For Infections, Try Gator-cillin

      Cox Newspapers  |  Apr 7, 08 3:28 PM CDT

      For Infections, Try Gator-cillin

      (Newser) - Scientists are trying to harness the power of alligator blood to fight disease, bacterial infections, and even HIV, Cox News reports. Proteins in the reptiles' blood have antibiotic properties thanks to the animals' long evolution and frequent exposure to bacteria; their exceptionally effective immune systems can fight off invaders without previous exposure. "It's pretty exciting," says one gator researcher. More »

      Tags

      medical research  • HIV  • immune system  • antibiotics  • pharmaceutical  • MRSA  • reptiles  • alligator

  • March 2008

    • Scientists Build Immune System in Test Tube

      Time  |  Mar 28, 08 3:09 PM CDT

      Scientists Build Immune System in Test Tube

      (Newser) - Scientists have discovered a way to produce tiny artificial human immune systems, Time reports, a breakthrough that could transform vaccine research. The process—called Modular Immune In Vitro Construct—will allow researchers to test budding medicines as never before and possibly make faster progress against AIDS and other killers.  More »

      Tags

      medicine  • medical breakthrough  • vaccine  • HIV/AIDS  • immune system  • clinical trials

    • Vegan Diet May Help Arthritis

      Guardian (UK)  |  Mar 18, 08 10:25 AM CDT

      Vegan Diet May Help Arthritis

      (Newser) - Patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis may be able to ease their painful symptoms and cut down on their risk of heart attacks by switching to a vegan, gluten-free diet. The new findings from a Swedish study offer hope for patients of the disease, which has no cure but can be mitigated with treatment, the Guardian reports. More »

      Tags

      diet  • immune system  • vegetarianism  • gluten  • body mass index  • vegan diet  • Karolinska Institutet

    • Immune-System Ailments Now an 'Epidemic'

      Washington Post  |  Mar 4, 08 7:46 PM CST

      Immune-System Ailments Now an 'Epidemic'

      (Newser) - Allergies and immune-system ailments like asthma, lupus, and MS are on the rise—and scientists increasingly blame modern life, the Washington Post reports. Many point to sterile conditions in the US and Western Europe, but pollution, diet, and obesity may also play a role. "We have dramatically changed our lives in the last 50 years," one allergist said. More »

      Tags

      health  • epidemic  • immune system  • asthma  • multiple sclerosis  • food allergies

    • Cold 'Remedy' Firm Settles Suit for $23M

      CNN  |  Mar 4, 08 3:10 PM CST

      Cold 'Remedy' Firm Settles Suit for $23M

      (Newser) - Herbal supplement company Airborne will pay $23.3 million to settle a class-action suit alleging false advertising but won't say it did anything wrong, CNNMoney reports. At issue was the company's claim its pills could cure colds. Airborne denies “any wrongdoing or illegal conduct,” but it will give customers their money back, said the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a plaintiff. More »

      Tags

      lawsuit  • drugs  • immune system  • common cold  • false advertising  • alternative medicine  • herbal medicine  • Airborne  • refund

  • December 2007

    • Flu Shot May Help Fight Off Bird Flu: Study

      Reuters  |  Dec 27, 07 8:02 AM CST

      Flu Shot May Help Fight Off Bird Flu: Study

      (Newser) - A regular flu shot may offer at least some protection against the bird flu, a new study finds. Researchers tested the blood of 42 volunteers who'd recently gotten flu vaccines, exposing it to the deadly H5N1 avian flu, and found that in some of them, the immune system recognized the threat and responded with appropriate antibodies, Reuters reports. More »

      Tags

      virus  • immune system  • bird flu  • avian flu  • flu shot  • H5N1  • antibodies

  • November 2007

    • Staph Strain Explodes Immune Cells

      Associated Press  |  Nov 12, 07 4:30 AM CST

      Staph Strain Explodes Immune Cells

      (Newser) - A key reason why a powerful strain of drug-resistant staph infections known as MRSA has proven so deadly is because it produces a compound that causes immune cells to explode, a new study in Nature concludes. The finding helps explain why MRSA, usually found in hospitals in patients with weakened immune systems, has also recently caused fatal infections in otherwise healthy people.  More »

      Tags

      vaccine  • hospitals  • immune system  • antibiotics  • MRSA  • staph infections  • drug resistant

  • September 2007

    • Lonely People's Genes Make Them Sick

      Reuters  |  Sep 15, 07 6:05 PM CDT

      Lonely People's Genes Make Them Sick

      (Newser) - Scientists say they’ve figured out why loners get sick and die young: “a highly suspicious conspiracy of genes” screws up their immune systems, Reuters reports. Their altered DNA can lead to heart disease, arthritis, Alzheimer’s and other problems. “There is something about being isolated and lonely that changes your body,” a biologist says. More