Clinical Immunology

Lupus study suggests blood-thinner drugs may help

2010-09-01T22:22:41Z

LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists studying the autoimmmune disease lupus have found that blood platelets are key in its development and say their findings in the lab suggest blood-thinning drugs may offer a new way to treat patients. The researchers found that lupus patients have an excess of platelets -- a type of blood cell that clump together to form clots -- and, after tests on mice, suggested tha...

MS more active in spring and summer: study

2010-08-31T10:15:47Z

The neurological disease multiple sclerosis can be more active in the spring and summer, according to a new study that detected brain lesions two to three times more frequently in warmer months. "Our results showed that the appearance of lesions on brain scans was two to three times higher in the months of March to August, compared to other months of the year," said study author Dominik Meier of J.K. Rowling has donated 10 million pounds to set up a new multiple sclerosis (MS) research clinic, the Harry Potter author revealed on Tuesday. She hopes the clinic, to be based at the University of Edinburgh, will become a world centre for excellence in its field. Th...

J.K. Rowling gives millions for MS research

2010-08-31T04:00:11Z

LONDON (Reuters Life!) - "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling has donated 10 million pounds ($15.5 million) to set up a new clinic to carry out research into multiple sclerosis (MS), the disease which killed her mother. The clinic, based at the 'Harry Potter' author JK Rowling donates $15.4 million to multiple sclerosis research

Author J.K. Rowling has given $15.4 million to set up a clinic to treat and research multiple sclerosis, the disease that killed her mother. The creator of Harry Potter says she hopes the clinic will become "a world center for excellence in the field of regenerative neu...

JK Rowling donates 10 million pounds for MS center

2010-08-31T03:15:56Z

'Harry Potter' author JK Rowling donates 10 million pounds to multiple sclerosis research

Author J.K. Rowling has given 10 million pounds ($15.4 million) to set up a clinic to treat and research multiple sclerosis, the disease that killed her mother. The creator of Harry Potter says she hopes the clinic will become "a world center for excellence in the f...

Acorda 2Q loss narrows on Ampyra sales

2010-08-03T08:00:16Z

Acorda Therapeutics' 2nd-quarter loss narrows on sales of multiple sclerosis drug Ampyra

Biotechnology company Acorda Therapeutics Inc. said Tuesday its second-quarter loss narrowed on a boost in sales of the multiple sclerosis drug Ampyra. The company lost $6.8 million, or 18 cents per share, compared with a loss of $23.3 million, or 62 cent...

Colorado bicyclist injured by cannon blast

2010-07-30T09:45:16Z

Colorado bicyclist injured by cannon blast at charity race; teenagers investigated

A bicyclist riding in a multiple sclerosis fundraiser was bombarded by cannon blast in what authorities suspect was a teenage prank gone awry. The La Plata County Sheriff's office say they plan to interview five teenagers with their parents next week about the cannon that was fired at the bicyclist Sunday during a multiple sclerosis fundraiser in Durango. Authorities say the blast w...

Alcohol eases rheumatoid arthritis: study

2010-09-01T12:16:11Z

Drinking alcohol may help reduce the severity of rheumatoid arthritis and cut the risk of developing the painful and crippling disease, a study published Wednesday has shown for the first time. Researchers led by Gerry Wilson, a professor at the University of Sheffield, asked 873 arthritis patients and a control group of 1,004 people how frequently they h...

Merck KGaA expects MS pill to lift drugs margin

2010-06-30T04:15:18Z

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German pharmaceuticals and chemicals company Merck KGaA is banking on an experimental multiple sclerosis (MS) pill to lift operating margins at its embattled drugs unit, it said on Wednesday. Earnings before interest, tax and special items at its Reuters Health) - A taste of cow's milk during the first two weeks of life may protect a child from later developing an allergy to the milk's protein, a new study suggests. Cow's milk protein allergy is the most common and most dangerous among the family of dairy allergies and intolerances, with reactions including rash, respiratory and gastrointestinal symptoms, even shock or death. The finding that giving cow's...

UK's NICE backs wider choice of arthritis drugs

2010-09-01T12:15:48Z

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's health cost watchdog has changed tack and recommended that rheumatoid arthritis patients should have more options if they do not respond adequately to treatment with a so-called TNF inhibitor drug. The N...

Wet wipes may cause rashes

2010-06-21T14:31:19Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Using wet wipes after going to the bathroom can be a less-than-soothing experience, according to a new report of four people who developed severe allergic reactions after using such products. Doctors have long known that many of the preservatives used in wet wipes can cause rashes, especially on irritated skin. But the authors of the new report, from the Talecris Biotherapeutics in a cash-and-stock deal valued at about $3.4 billion. Grifols will offer $19 in cash and a portion of its newly issued, nonvoting shares for each share of the Research Triangle Park, N.C., co...

Major new study of Libby asbestos starts

2010-06-04T02:00:12Z

Attention graduates of Montana's Libby High School: asbestos researchers are looking for you. People who attended Libby High between 1950 and 1999, and then moved away, are being asked to submit to tests to help determine the extent of contamination caused by asbestos mining and processing in the northwestern Montana town. Libby has emerged as the deadliest Superfund site in th...

Allergic to shrimp? You may grow out of it

2010-06-02T19:45:11Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Shellfish allergies are among the most common type of food allergy but a U.S. study has found that sufferers may possibly build up a tolerance to shrimp and possibly lobster and clams as they grow older. Shellfish allergies tend to persist into adulthood, with reactions ranging from mild symptoms, like nasal congestion and hives, to seriou...

Shrimp allergies may wane with age

2010-06-02T08:45:19Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new study finds that adults who are allergic to shrimp tend to have a less intense immune-system reaction to the shellfish compared with children -- raising the possibility that some allergy sufferers build up a tolerance to shrimp as they grow older. Allergies to shellfish, such as shrimp, lobster and clams, are among the most common type of food allergy. Reactions can range from mild symptom...

Farm kids at lower allergy risk, even in their 70s

2010-06-01T08:30:42Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The anti-allergy effects of an agricultural upbringing persist well into old age, new research from Sweden shows. Dr. Jonas Eriksson of the University of Gothenburg and colleagues found that people who spent the first fi...

Scientists find clues to kidney transplant success

2010-05-24T16:15:19Z

LONDON (Reuters) - European scientists have found a full range of markers in the blood of kidney transplant patients which could predict whether their new organ will be a success and whether they need large amounts of medication to help it. The researchers said on Tuesday the finding may help doctors to give more personalized care to transplant patients and to modify the amount of powerful immunosuppressant drugs they have...

Peanut, tree-nut allergies may be on the rise in kids

2010-06-11T21:32:19Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Between 1 and 2 percent of children in the U.S. and Canada may have allergies to peanuts or tree nuts, with the U.S. rates seemingly on the rise, two new studies suggest. Peanuts and tree nuts such as almonds and walnuts are the most common causes of severe, sometimes life-threatening allergic r...

Work exposure to soy tied to asthma symptoms

2010-05-17T07:16:46Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Allergic reactions to soy may be a cause of asthma symptoms in some workers at soy processing plants, a new study suggests. Soy is among the most common sources of food allergies, and some studies have found that people who work in soy processing have higher-than-average rates of respiratory symptoms such as wheezing. Those findings raised the question of whether breathing in soy "dust" may lead...

Attack of the allergies

2010-05-14T02:45:26Z

Itchy eyes and swollen sinuses — these are the signs of spring in Las Vegas.And parts of summer.
Oh, and a bit of fall, too.
It wasnÕt always like this. There was a time when people suffering from respiratory illnesses flocked to the Mojave Desert to escape allergens. But then their neighbors planted olive and mulberry trees, and what was once a haven became hell...

A look at some of Merck's key drugs in pipeline

2010-05-13T07:17:47Z

Some of the key experimental drugs in Merck & Co.'s pipeline include: _Vorapaxar, for preventing life-threatening blood clots in heart patients. Merck expects to file for U.S. approval in 2011. _Anacetrapib, a new type of cholesterol drug in late-stage testing. _Two fast-dissolving tablets to reduce the severity of allergies to grass pollen and to ragweed over time, a new approach for patients who don't want repeated allergy s...

Easing bone marrow transplants to widen their use

2010-05-10T12:15:32Z

HEALTHBEAT: Trying less intense bone marrow transplants to treat sickle cell, other disorders

Bone marrow transplants are undergoing a quiet revolution: No longer just for cancer, research is under way to ease the risks so they can target more people with diseases from sickle cell to deadly metabolic disorders. The old way: High doses of radiation and chemotherapy wipe out a patient's own bone marrow before someone else's is infused to replace it, hopefully before...

New mutant genes linked to rheumatoid arthritis

2010-09-01T12:15:43Z

HONG KONG (Reuters) - A large study of European populations has uncovered seven new clusters of defective genes which may be responsible for rheumatoid arthritis, a painful and disabling disease that affects mainly the joints. The paper was published in Nature Genetics on Monday together with findings of a separate study in Japan, which identified one of the seven genetic clusters ...

Common virus tied to earlier death in older women

2010-04-27T09:45:30Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Older women with high antibody levels to a common viral infection may be more vulnerable to frailty and die earlier than other women their age, a new study suggests. The virus in question is cytomegalovirus, or CMV, which infects most people at some point in their lives -- up to 80 percent of U.S. adults by the age of 40. In healthy peopl...

Man executed in Ohio for 16-year-old's rape, murder

2010-04-20T12:16:24Z

Darryl Durr, 46, was executed Tuesday in Ohio for the 1988 rape and murder of a 16-year-old girl after the Supreme Court rejected a flurry of final appeals, including one claiming he was allergic to certain anesthetics. Durr was declared dead at 1036 am (1436 GMT) local time, 12 minutes after receiving a lethal injection. The Supreme Court rejected three appeals filed by Durr's attorneys in the days before his execution. One appeal called for DNA t...

Judge: No allergy risk proven for Ohio execution

2010-04-19T17:02:22Z

Judge: Ohio inmate didn't offer medical evidence that execution poses anesthesia allergy risk

An inmate scheduled to die next week for raping and strangling a 16-year-old girl has failed to present enough evidence of an allergy to anesthesia that could affect the execution, a federal judge ruled Friday. Condemned killer Darryl Durr waited too long to raise the issue of an...

Temporary fix helps patients around drug allergy

2010-04-19T14:15:45Z

HEALTHBEAT: Allergic to the best cancer drug? Doctors offer possible way to keeping taking it

Having a bad reaction to penicillin as a child doesn't guarantee you're still allergic decades later. And if the oncologist says you have to switch chemotherapies because of an allergic reaction, well, maybe not. More medical centers are recommending a lesser known choice: Drug desensitization, a carefully controlled method of helping patients temporarily tolerate medicat...

Achoo! Pollen at its worst in years in many areas

2010-06-12T02:21:23Z

Achoo! Pollen is everywhere, and plaguing allergy sufferers across the nation

Pollen: It's on your car, in the air and especially in your sinuses. From Florida to Texas to Colorado, 2010 is shaping up to be a monster of an allergy season. The words "pollen" and "allergy" are among the top 10 trending topics on Reuters Health) - For children at higher-than-average risk of asthma, having a dog around the house may increase the chances of developing the lung disease, a new study suggests. The study, which followed 380 children at increased risk of asthma due to family history, found that those exposed to relatively high levels of dog allergen at the age of 7 were more likely to have asthma. In contrast, there was no relat...

Flu shot safe for most egg allergic kids: study

2010-04-05T07:00:26Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The flu shot is safe for most kids with egg allergies, a new report in Pediatrics shows. Because all flu vaccine is made in chicken eggs, there are concerns about giving the flu shot to kids with egg allergies. About one in 60 U.S. children has such allergies, according to the Reuters Health) - A new study finds that women who give birth may have a lower risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis than women who remain childless -- though the potential protective effect seems to fade over the years. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) arises when the immune system mistakenly attacks tissue in the joints, leading to inflammation, pain and progressive joint damage. The disease is more common in women ...

Rheumatoid arthritis increasing in white women

2010-09-01T12:15:43Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - After decades of decline, rheumatoid arthritis is on the rise among white women in the US, new research shows. While the study wasn't designed to investigate why this is happening, the speed of the change points to environmental, rather than genetic, factors, Dr. Sherine E. Gabriel...

Food-allergic kids should carry two 'epi' doses

2010-03-22T07:15:46Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Children with a history of food-induced allergic reactions may need more than one shot of epinephrine to halt a severe reaction, a study has confirmed. Among a group of children treated for food-related "anaphylactic" reactions over 6 years, 12 percent needed a second epinephrine dose, according to a report out today in the journal Pediatrics. Anaphylaxis is a severe allergic reaction that devel...

Rheumatoid arthritis tied to pregnancy complications

2010-09-01T12:15:42Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Pregnant women with rheumatoid arthritis may have increased risks of high blood pressure, having an underweight baby or needing a cesarean section, a new study suggests. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) arises when the immune system mistakenly attacks tissue in the joints, leading to inflammation, pain and progressive joint damage. The disease is more common in women than men, and frequently develops d...

Rates of food sensitivity vary by country: study

2010-03-12T13:15:59Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People in Portland are more likely than those in Iceland to be sensitive to certain foods, but reactions to fish, eggs and cow's milk appear rare in both places, new research suggests. The study, of more than 4,500 adults from 13 Western countries, found that nations varied in the rate...

Human Genome Sciences names David Southwell CFO

2010-08-25T14:36:34Z

Human Genome Sciences names David Southwell CFO to replace Timothy Barabe

Human Genome Sciences Inc. said Tuesday it named David P. Southwell executive vice president and chief financial officer to replace Timothy C. Barabe. On March 1, the company announced Barabe's resignation in a NEW YORK - DECEMBER 07: Julia Koch attends the 2009 Annual Food Allergy Ball at The Waldorf Astoria on December 7, 2009 in New York City. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)

University of Colorado shows visible microbial growth on a showerhead, with the colored growth seen on the white inner surfaces. In the scariest shower news since Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho," a new study says showerheads can harbor tiny bacteria that come spraying into your face when you wash. People with normal im...