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Autoimmune disease

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Autoimmune diseases arise from an overactive immune response of the body against substances and tissues normally present in the body. In other words, the body really attacks its own cells. This may be restricted to certain organs (e.g. in 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.

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


News tagged with autoimmune diseases

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Study describes new tool in the fight against autoimmune diseases, blood cancers

Medicine & Health / Research

created 15 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

A study led by a Scripps Research Institute scientist describes a new, highly pragmatic approach to the identification of molecules that prevent a specific type of immune cells from attacking their host. The findings add ...


Factors from common human bacteria may trigger multiple sclerosis

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Nov 24, 2009 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Current research suggests that a common oral bacterium may exacerbate autoimmune disease. The related report by Nichols et al, "Unique Lipids from a Common Human Bacterium Represent a New Class of TLR2 Ligands Capable of ...


'Buckyballs' to treat multiple sclerosis

'Buckyballs' to treat multiple sclerosis

Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine

created Mar 19, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 1

If you're of a certain age, you'll remember Buckminster Fuller's distinctive "geodesic domes" - soccer-ball-shaped structures that the late futurist envisioned as ideal human domiciles. Tel Aviv University ...


Researchers find new way to attack inflammation in Graves' eye disease

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Nov 06, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

A small group of patients with severe Graves' eye disease experienced rapid improvement of their symptoms — and improved vision — following treatment with the drug rituximab. Inflammation around their eyes and damage to the ...


TV crime drama compound highlights immune cells' misdeeds

Medicine & Health / Research

created Mar 22, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Detectives on television shows often spray crime scenes with a compound called luminol to make blood glow. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have applied the same compound to much smaller ...


New study identifies cellular mechanism that causes lupuslike symptoms in mice

Medicine & Health / Research

created Oct 18, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Macrophages, the scavenger cells of the body's immune system, are responsible for disposing of dying cells. Stanford University School of Medicine researchers have identified one pathway in this important process in mice ...


Open Lid Reveals Mercury

Chemistry / Analytical Chemistry

created Oct 15, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (8) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- Mercury, the silvery liquid formerly used in thermometers, is now known to be highly toxic. The worst of the toxins are organic mercury compounds, such as methylmercury. Most previous analytical procedures ...


Researchers make breakthrough against poxviruses

Biology /

created Jan 23, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (8) | comments 0

Smallpox has a nasty history throughout the world. Caused by poxviruses, smallpox is one of the few disease-causing agents against which the human body's immune system is ineffective in its defense.


Master gene that switches on disease-fighting cells identified by scientists

Master gene that switches on disease-fighting cells identified by scientists

Medicine & Health / Genetics

created Sep 13, 2009 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (3) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- The master gene that causes blood stem cells to turn into disease-fighting 'Natural Killer' (NK) immune cells has been identified by scientists, in a study published in Nature Immunology today. ...


Promising new target emerges for autoimmune diseases

Promising new target emerges for autoimmune diseases

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Sep 01, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

University of Michigan scientists say they have uncovered a fundamentally new mechanism that holds in check aggressive immune cells that can attack the body's own cells. The findings open a new avenue of research ...


Gene regulates immune cells' ability to harm the body

Medicine & Health / Research

created Jul 17, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

A recently identified gene allows immune cells to start the self-destructive processes thought to underlie autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS) and rheumatoid arthritis, researchers at Washington University ...


Found: A gene that may play a role in type 1 diabetes

Medicine & Health / Genetics

created Aug 10, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Scientists at Stanford University have identified a gene that may play a role in the development of type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks the body's insulin-producing cells. Insulin, a ...


Scientists find key culprits in lupus

Medicine & Health / Research

created Jun 29, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (4) | comments 0

The more than 1.5 million Americans with systemic lupus erythematosus (or lupus) suffer from a variety of symptoms that flare and subside, often including painful or swollen joints, extreme fatigue, skin rashes, fever, and ...


Bcl6 gene sculpts helper T cell to boost antibody production

Medicine & Health / Research

created Jul 23, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Expression of a single gene programs an immune system helper T cell that fuels rapid growth and diversification of antibodies in a cellular structure implicated in autoimmune diseases and development of B cell lymphoma, scientists ...


Study: Cigarette smoking does not affect everyone in same way

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Jun 04, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (6) | comments 1

Cigarette smoking induced COPD, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, is a disease that results in severe breathing difficulty. According to World Health Organization (WHO) it is the fourth leading killer worldwide. However ...