IMMUNE SYSTEM

More in IMMUNE SYSTEM

• Researchers find how skin biomarkers in infants can predict early development of food allergies

  Findings of the study published in the Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology's March 2024 issue, skin tape strips were taken from babies' forearms when they were just two months old--a time before any indication of a food allergy could be seen. The skin tape sampling method was created by experts at National Jewish Health, and it is soft and noninvasive for these very young patients. The lipids and surface proteins on the skin attach to the tape, which is subsequently removed to examine the specifics.

  

• US tuberculosis cases were at their the highest level in a decade in 2023

  Most U.S. TB cases are diagnosed in people born in other countries. Experts say the 2023 number is in part a combination of a surge in TB cases internationally - the World Health Organization said TB was behind only COVID-19 in infectious fatal diseases worldwide in 2022. And there are also increases in migration and post-pandemic international travel.

  

• Parasitic worm infection in TB patients makes lung disease more severe, finds study

  In simple terms, the study shows that having a parasitic worm infection on top of tuberculosis makes lung disease more severe and harder to treat successfully. This underscores the need for health strategies that address both TB and parasitic infections together, to improve the chances of recovery for patients affected by both conditions.

  

• Studying middle-aged brain can give us clues to dementia

  Through the white matter connections, brain areas talk to each other and form interconnected networks that can perform cognitive and sensory functions, including memory or vision. While the sensory networks deteriorate gradually throughout adulthood, the cognitive networks start deteriorating faster during middle age, especially those involved in memory.

  

• Gut microbiome: meet Ruminococcus bromii - the microbe that loves carbs

  Europeans, get our weekly newsletter with analysis from European scholars Each person has their own distinctive microbiome, which is made up of a few hundred different bacterial species. Your microbiome changes throughout your life, depending on several factors - including what medications you're taking and the types of foods you eat. Some people will have higher levels of R bromii than others and this could have implications for their health.

  

• Miraculous recovery: Man stuns doctors as world-first treatment ‘eradicates cancer’

  A man diagnosed with aggressive brain cancer has made a remarkable recovery after participating in a groundbreaking clinical trial. Ben Trotman, given a few months to live, underwent immunotherapy treatment that utilized his own immune system to combat the tumor. The treatment was highly effective, shrinking the tumor in an unprecedented way. This breakthrough offers hope for finding a cure for glioblastoma, a devastating disease.

  

• Nerve blocking drugs could help stop head, neck cancer from growing, study finds

  Studying interactions between nerves and tumour microenvironments, researchers found that sensory nerves helped accelerate tumour growth by preventing the immune system from generating specific T-cells, important to fighting disease within the tumour tissue.

  

• Switching to vegan, keto diets linked with immune system, gut changes, study finds

  Switching to a vegan diet can prompt responses associated with innate immunity, or the immune system that one is born with, new research has found. On the other hand, the research also found that switching to a keto diet - high-fat, low-carb - could trigger responses usually linked with adaptive immunity, which is the immune system that one develops with time in response to external infections and vaccinations.

  

• Blood protein analysis shows active immune system could be causing long COVID

  The scientists observed measurable changes in blood proteins in "active" long COVID patients even after six months following infection, indicating interactions between proteins of the complement system, which is a part of the immune system.

  

• Blood protein analysis shows active immune system could be causing long COVID

  The scientists observed measurable changes in blood proteins in "active" long COVID patients even after six months following infection, indicating interactions between proteins of the complement system, which is a part of the immune system.

  

• Study finds immune system can influence behaviour

  Scientists have long known that the immune system has a role in human sensitivity to allergens and diseases in the environment, but it was unknown whether it also played a role in producing these types of behaviours in response to allergic stimuli.