Autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and lupus are tough to treat. Current treatments just calm down the immune system's attack on the body, but they don't fix the root cause. This means patients often face a lifetime of expensive medications, injections, or infusions with serious side effects. Plus, these treatments don't always work we...
People with kidney transplants often face a tough battle. Their bodies are kept from rejecting the new kidney with drugs that weaken their immune system. This makes them more likely to get infections, especially in their lungs. Traditional methods of finding these infections might not be enough. A recent case showed this clearly. A patient had a hole in their lung. D...
The immune system is like a superhero team inside our bodies. It fights off germs and keeps us healthy. Recently, scientists won a big award for their work on how our immune system learns to tell the difference between friends and foes. This is a big deal because it helps us understand how to keep our bodies safe from sickness. Scientists are always learning new thi...
Winter is here, and so are the sniffles. Everyone's looking for ways to stay healthy. Some people chug vitamin C, others chase sunlight. But what if the secret to a stronger immune system is hiding in your gut? Researchers found something interesting. A compound called Urolithin A might be a game-changer. It's made in your gut when bacteria break down ellagic acid. ...
PD-L1 is a protein that can interfere with the immune system's ability to function properly. Some researchers believe it might play a significant role in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). However, there's still a lot of uncertainty about how PD-L1 affects treatment outcomes or if it's linked to resistance to the chemotherapy drug cisplatin. To better understand PD-L1...
Imagine a system designed to protect you, but sometimes it goes rogue. That's what happens in autoimmune diseases. These conditions occur when the immune system mistakenly attacks the body's own tissues. Lupus, often called the disease of 1, 000 faces, is one such condition. It can cause a wide range of symptoms, from rashes and swelling to severe pain and organ dama...
Your immune system might be aging faster than you realize, even if you feel fit and healthy. As people get older, their immune cells struggle to fight infections, heal wounds, and destroy cancer cells. This decline often starts in the late 30s or early 40s. One big reason for this decline is inflammation, which speeds up aging and makes the immune system weaker. Sig...
A sneaky parasite called Toxoplasma gondii is hiding in the brains of millions of people, and most don't even know it's there. This tiny invader is usually harmless, but for those with weakened immune systems, it can be dangerous. Scientists have been studying this parasite to find a way to stop it without causing harm to the human body. The parasite is closely link...
The COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, which played a big role in saving lives during the pandemic, might also have a surprising benefit: helping the immune system fight cancer. This idea came from a study that looked at how these vaccines affect patients with certain types of cancer. The study focused on patients with late-stage melanoma and lung cancer who were receiving a t...
In the intricate world of the brain, tiny immune system proteins named C1q and C3 are stirring up trouble. Normally, these proteins are the brain's protectors. However, in epilepsy, they turn against the brain. They disrupt the brain's connections, leading to excessive brain activity and seizures. Researchers decided to investigate if halting C1q could be a game-cha...