autoimmune diseases

Health care workers assist a COVID-19 patient in Spain. Some evidence from Europe and China suggests an overzealous immune response may be contributing to the severe illness in some patients.

Health & Safety

Why Some COVID-19 Patients Crash: The Body's Immune System Might Be To Blame

10:12pm April 07, 2020

by Geoff Brumfiel

An overblown immune response could be killing a portion of the sick, and some doctors think that new treatments being tested could help at least some of those patients.

A scanning electron micrograph shows microglial cells (yellow) ingesting branched oligodendrocyte cells (purple), a process thought to occur in multiple sclerosis. Oligodendrocytes form insulating myelin sheaths around nerve axons in the central nervous s

Researchers Find A Web Of Factors Behind Multiple Sclerosis

8:35am January 21, 2019

by Bret Stetka

It's looking like MS strikes when a variety of triggers gang up to impair neurons in the brain and spinal cord. Researchers are using their new knowledge to search for treatments.

In addition to profound exhaustion that isn't relieved with sleep, the illness now called ME/CFS includes flu-like symptoms, muscle pain, "brain fog" and various other physical symptoms, all of which typically worsen with even minor exertion.

Scientists Edge Closer To Elusive Lab Test For 'Chronic Fatigue Syndrome'

3:26pm July 31, 2017

by Miriam E. Tucker

Stanford University scientists have found an array of proteins in the blood whose levels correlate closely with the severity of symptoms of the mysterious illness that's increasingly known as ME/CFS.

Eating: it's what I was born to do apparently!

Can Changing When And What We Eat Help Outwit Disease?

5:00am February 19, 2017

by Brandie Jefferson

I'm fasting intermittently as part of a research study, to see if changing my gut microbiome affects my multiple sclerosis. But maybe living on Peanut Chews isn't the best strategy.

I'm Fasting For Science: Will It Help Tame My Multiple Sclerosis?

6:00am January 08, 2017

by Brandie Jefferson

I like to eat, often and a lot. But when I heard about a medical study looking at whether fasting might tame the painful symptoms of MS, I was all in. Then I ate that 7 a.m. bagel.

The Old World hookworm is an intestinal parasite. The image above was taken by a scanning electron micrograph and was color-enhanced. The worm's actual size ranges from 0.03 inches to 0.3 inches.

Health & Safety

Could Worms In Your Gut Cure Your Allergies?

12:28pm August 12, 2016

by Michaeleen Doucleff

Some people are trying to treat autoimmune problems with an unlikely tool: worms that live in your gut, permanently. Scientists are finally starting to figure out whether they work.

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Fetal Cells May Protect Mom From Disease Long After The Baby's Born

8:11am October 26, 2015

by Michaeleen Doucleff

In 1893, a German scientist made a striking discovery: Cells from a fetus hide out in a mother's body after birth. Scientists say these cells alter the risk of breast cancer and autoimmune diseases.

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Seasons May Tweak Genes That Trigger Some Chronic Diseases

3:26pm May 14, 2015

by Rob Stein

Genes linked to inflammation are more active in winter, a study hints. That might partly explain why some diseases, including Type 1 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis, are more likely to start then.

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