Immune System

Subterms

    Latest story

    150 Shares118 Views

    Drugs Have Uses We Can’t Imagine. He’s Using A.I. to Find Them.

    by

    A little over a year ago, Joseph Coates was told there was only one thing left to decide. Did he want to die at home, or in the hospital?Coates, then 37 and living in Renton, Wash., was barely conscious. For months, he had been battling a rare blood disorder called POEMS syndrome, which had left him with numb hands and feet, an enlarged heart and failing kidneys. Every few days, doctors needed to drain liters of fluid from his abdomen. He became too sick to receive a stem cell transplant — one of the only treatments that could have put him into remission.“I gave up,” he said. “I just thought the end was inevitable.”But Coates’s girlfriend, Tara Theobald, wasn’t ready to quit. So she sent an email begging for help to a doctor in Philadelphia named David Fajgenbaum, whom the couple met a year earlier at a rare disease summit.By the next morning, Dr. Fajgenbaum had replied, suggesting an unconventional combination of chemotherapy, immunotherapy and steroids previously untested as a treatment for Coates’s disorder.Within a week, Coates was responding to treatment. In four months, he was healthy enough for a stem cell transplant. Today, he’s in remission.The lifesaving drug regimen wasn’t thought up by the doctor, or any person. It had been spit out by an artificial intelligence model.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    More stories

    • 113 Shares129 Views

      in Elections

      Can Adults Develop Seasonal Allergies? Symptoms and Treatments, Explained

      by

      After sidestepping symptoms for years, the sneezing and runny nose can come for you. Here’s why.After decades of never experiencing seasonal allergies, you suddenly find yourself sneezing and sniffling along with the tens of millions of Americans who suffer from them. What happened?“People tend to think of allergies as a childhood thing” and not something they can get later in life, said Dr. Tolly Epstein, an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine who researches allergies and immunology. But “it’s very common to develop new allergies,” especially in your 20s, 30s and 40s, she said. And the symptoms aren’t always obvious.Most people with seasonal allergies will have sneezing, itchy eyes or nasal congestion. But those can also be accompanied by fatigue, a headache or sinus pressure — which, if you’ve never faced allergies before, you might mistake as cold symptoms, Dr. Epstein said.If you’ve recently developed a pollen allergy, you might also experience itching in your mouth after eating certain raw fruits and vegetables, said Dr. Andrew Rorie, an assistant professor in the Division of Allergy and Immunology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. That’s because the immune system sometimes confuses proteins in the plants for pollen proteins, he said.What causes seasonal allergies to develop?Seasonal allergies are reactions to environmental elements like pollen or mold spores that tend to swirl around in the air during certain times — such as in the spring, when plants pollinate. When you’re allergic to something like pollen, your immune system perceives it as a threat and triggers a chain reaction at the point of exposure. Antibodies in the nose or lungs stimulate the release of chemicals like histamine, which can lead to the sneezing, runny nose or congestion.Scientists aren’t exactly sure why you can develop new allergies or symptoms without ever having had them before, but there are several potential causes. For one, climate change is causing allergy season to start earlier and last longer, so it makes people more prone to developing symptoms, experts said.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 88 Shares189 Views

      in Elections

      Scientists Describe Rare Syndrome Following Covid Vaccinations

      by

      In a small study, patients with the syndrome were more likely to experience reactivation of Epstein-Barr virus and high levels of a coronavirus protein.The Covid-19 vaccines were powerfully protective, preventing millions of deaths. But in a small number of people, the shots may have led to a constellation of side effects that includes fatigue, exercise intolerance, brain fog, tinnitus and dizziness, together referred to as “post-vaccination syndrome,” according to a small new study.Some people with this syndrome appear to show distinct biological changes, the research found — among them differences in immune cells, reawakening of a dormant virus called Epstein-Barr, and the persistence of a coronavirus protein in their blood.The study was posted online Wednesday and has not yet been published in a scientific journal. “I want to emphasize that this is still a work in progress,” said Akiko Iwasaki, an immunologist at Yale University who led the work.“It’s not like this study determined what’s making people sick,” she said, “but it’s the first kind of glimpse at what may be going on within these people.”Independent experts noted that the findings were not conclusive on their own. Yet the results, from a scientific team known for rigorous work, suggest that post-vaccination syndrome deserves further scrutiny, they said.“One of the most important things is that we get some attention to really shine a light on this and try to understand exactly what it is,” said John Wherry, director of the Institute for Immunology at the University of Pennsylvania. (Dr. Wherry has previously collaborated with Dr. Iwasaki’s team, but did not participate in this work.)We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 125 Shares189 Views

      in Elections

      Why Do Mental Health Conditions Lead to More Severe Covid?

      by

      People with psychiatric conditions are more likely to be hospitalized or die of the virus. Scientists have ideas about why that might be the case.It’s been clear since the early days of the pandemic: People with mental illness are more likely to have severe outcomes from Covid. Compared to the general population, they’re at higher risk of being hospitalized, developing long Covid or dying from an infection.That fact puts mental illness on the same list as better-known Covid risk factors like cardiovascular issues, chronic kidney disease and asthma.When it comes to Covid risk, mental illness “shouldn’t be treated differently than you treat diabetes or heart disease or cancer,” said Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, the chief of research and development at the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Healthcare System.Scientists now have a better understanding of who is vulnerable. While research has linked a wide range of mental illnesses to worse Covid outcomes, experts generally believe that the risk is greatest for people with severe or unmanaged mental health conditions — suggesting that someone with schizophrenia, for example, is more likely to get sicker from Covid than someone receiving treatment for anxiety. They also have several hypotheses about why mental illness might make people more susceptible.The Strain of StressMany mental health conditions can lead to chronically high stress levels. And stress sabotages the immune system, flooding the body with hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. Those hormones make it harder to produce certain immune cells that are crucial for fighting off illnesses.“The whole system is not designed to be constantly activated,” said Andrea Lynne Roberts, a researcher at Harvard University who has studied the effects of mental health conditions on Covid outcomes. That’s why people with mental illness may be more vulnerable to viral infections in general, from the common cold to Covid.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 113 Shares109 Views

      in Elections

      A Summer Guide to Covid Testing, Symptoms and Treatment

      by

      Experts say cases could rise in the coming weeks. Here’s what to know about symptoms, testing and treatment.As the so-called “FLiRT” variants of the coronavirus continue to gain traction, doctors and researchers are bracing for a potential rise in cases this summer. KP.2, one of these variants, now accounts for 28.5 percent of cases, and data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a small increase in Covid-related emergency room visits and positive tests.Here’s what to know about symptoms, testing and treatment if you do fall ill:Symptoms to watch out forThere’s no evidence that symptoms of the FLiRT variants and other recent strains are any different, said Aubree Gordon, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the University of Michigan.The symptoms still include sneezing, congestion, headaches, sore muscles, nausea or vomiting. Many people also report exhaustion and a general “blah” feeling.In general, the more immunity you’ve built up from vaccination or past infections, the milder your next bout with the virus is likely to be. (Though it’s possible to experience more intense symptoms with a new infection than you’ve had in past Covid cases.)The symptoms of Covid can look similar to those caused by allergies or other infections. The best way to tell the difference is to test.When (and how) to testIn an ideal world, experts said, people would take a Covid test as soon as they develop symptoms or learn they were exposed, and then test again a day or two later. But if you only have a limited number of at-home rapid tests, there are a few ways to maximize their usefulness: Test immediately if you have a fever and a cough, said Dr. Davey Smith, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Diego.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More