There’s something uniquely frightening about autoimmune disorders, diseases that occur when the body attacks itself. But there’s increasing evidence t

Source (HealthNewsdigest.com) - Multiple sclerosis. Lupus. Type 1 Diabetes. What links these three afflictions, which exact a devastating toll on people who would otherwise be in the prime of their lives? They are all autoimmune diseases, and the 23.5 million Americans who suffer from these and nearly a hundred other chronic autoimmune illnesses signal a frightening trend. In

THE AUTOIMMUNE EPIDEMIC: Bodies Gone Haywire in a World Out of Balance—And the Cutting Edge Science That Promises Hope (Touchstone/Simon & Schuster; February 5, 2008; $25.00/hardcover; 0-7432-7775-9), author and lecturer Donna Jackson Nakazawa—herself afflicted with several autoimmune diseases—sounds a call to arms, taking readers inside today’s most prestigious scientific labs to show how “autogens” (heavy metals, toxins, pesticides, viruses, and everyday chemicals that can play a role in triggering autoimmunity) are putting an often unbearable load on the human immune system.

THE AUTOIMMUNE EPIDEMIC combines up-to-the-minute research from leading universities and hospitals, including Harvard University, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, and the National Institutes of Health, with the frontline perspective of Nakazawa and other autoimmune sufferers to explore vital topics including:What role chemicals, heavy metals, viruses, diet, and genes play in developing autoimmune disease The connection between autoimmune disease and allergies, the rates of which are likewise skyrocketing The disturbing fact that 75% of autoimmune sufferers are women—and one in nine women will be afflicted with these diseases Ways in which readers can lessen the multitude of exposures that threaten their immune systems and their overall health Why scientists now believe that even people who are not genetically predisposed to autoimmunity may fall ill The groundbreaking interventions from today’s top labs that promise to help halt the disease process THE AUTOIMMUNE EPIDEMIC calls for a halt in the proliferation of these debilitating, and often fatal, diseases—and provides the knowledge and the means to make a difference. As Dr. Douglas Kerr, director of the Johns Hopkins Transverse Myelitis Center states in the book’s foreword, “Reading The Autoimmune Epidemic is a necessary first step. Reading The Autoimmune Epidemic is a life-altering event. It needs to be.”ABOUT THE AUTHORDonna Jackson Nakazawa is an author and lecturer who specializes in family life and health issues. She has contributed to Parade and AARP The Magazine, and has appeared on ABC News and NPR radio. Nakazawa is also the author of Does Anybody Else Look Like Me? She lives in Maryland with her family

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DNA Vaccine Against Multiple Sclerosis Appears Safe, Potentially Beneficial

Newswise — A newly developed DNA vaccine appears safe and may produce beneficial changes in the brains and immune systems of individuals with multiple sclerosis, according to an article posted online today that will appear in the October 2007 print issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
In patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), the immune system attacks the myelin sheaths that protect nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, according to background information in the article. The nerve cell’s axon, which transmits messages to other neurons, is eventually destroyed. The cause of MS is unknown, but evidence points to the involvement of immune cells and antibodies that recognize and attack specific substances in the myelin, such as myelin basic protein. Certain cytokines, small proteins produced by cells that trigger inflammation, also may play a role.
Amit Bar-Or, M.D., of the Montreal Neurological Institute and colleagues tested a DNA vaccine, BHT-3009, that encodes a full-length human myelin basic protein. Between 2004 and 2006, the researchers administered the vaccine to 30 patients with relapsing-remitting MS [characterized by symptomatic periods and periods of remission] or secondary progressive MS [when symptoms progressively worsen, but there still may be periods of remission]. After one, three, five and nine weeks, participants received intramuscular injections of placebo or BHT-3009 (in doses of .5 milligrams, 1.5 milligrams or 3 milligrams), with or without 80-milligram pills of atorvastatin calcium, a lipid-lowering drug previously shown to be effective in autoimmune conditions. After 13 weeks, participants who initially received placebo received four injections of BHT-3009.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and other safety evaluations were performed at the beginning of the study, and again after five, nine, 13, 26, 38 and 50 weeks. “BHT-3009 was safe and well tolerated, provided favorable trends on brain MRI and produced beneficial antigen-specific immune changes,” the authors write. These changes included a reduction in the number of cytokine-producing CD4+ T cells (a type of white blood cell) specifically targeting myelin proteins. This reduction was found in the blood as well as in the cerebrospinal fluid of three patients who voluntarily underwent lumbar puncture after completing the course of BHT-3009. Atorvastatin did not appear to provide additional benefit.
“There were no increases in clinical relapses, disability, drug-associated laboratory abnormalities, adverse events or the number and volume of contrast-enhancing [visible on MRI] lesions on brain MRI with BHT-3009 treatment compared with placebo,” the authors write. “In fact, there was a trend toward a decrease in the number and volume of contrast-enhancing lesions in the brain in patients treated with BHT-3009 compared with placebo.”
Based on these results, a phase 2b trial—a randomized clinical trial in approximately 290 patients—of BHT-3009 is already under way. “If successful in MS, antigen-specific DNA vaccines can be developed for prevention or treatment of related diseases, such as type 1 diabetes mellitus, systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis and myasthenia gravis,” the authors conclude.(ArchNeurol. 2007;64(10):(doi:10.1001/archneur.64.10.nct70002). Available pre-embargo to the media at www.jamamedia.org.)
Editor’s Note: The work described in this article was funded by Bayhill Therapeutics, Inc. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.
© 2007 Newswise. All Rights Reserved.

MS, more common among women

MS, or multiple sclerosis, is a chronic inflammatory disease that affects the central nervous system. In 1940, two out of three with the condition were women but by the year 2000, that figure went up to four out of five. "We also need to ask the general questions about what women do differently than men, such as use of hair dye and cosmetics that may block vitamin D absorption," said Dr Gary Cutter, from the University of Alabama in Birmingham. In another study, researchers also found the largest increase in the ratio of women to men has been for those whose MS started at younger ages. MS can cause a variety of symptoms, including changes in sensation, visual problems, muscle weakness, depression, difficulties with coordination and speech, severe fatigue, cognitive impairment, problems with balance, overheating and pain. MS will cause impaired mobility and disability in more severe cases. MS is the most common disabling neurological condition affecting young adults; it is an autoimmune condition - meaning the immune system mistakes the body's own tissue for an infectious foreign body, and attacks it. MGP/SF/BGH
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A more tolerant immune system?? The future for autoimmune diseases?

Montana State University researchers have found a new way to fool the immune system into becoming more tolerant.David Pascual, MSU professor of veterinary molecular biology, said the process will let people tolerate instead of over-react to certain antigens. Antigens are foreign substances that cause the immune system to respond, but some immune systems respond too strongly.The discovery is good news for people with allergies, autoimmune diseases and inflammatory diseases like arthritis and multiple sclerosis, Pascual said. The discovery will let people use a nasal spray or take a pill to keep their bodies from overreacting to specific antigens. Their immune system will become non-responsive instead of producing allergic reactions or painful inflammations."We are pretty excited about it," said Pascual who noted that MSU has been working on the project for five years. The biotechnology is available now to companies or entrepreneurs that want to license it and develop it further.The key to the biotechnology is a protein that can be fused to a broad range of antigens, Pascual said. By fusing the protein to a specific antigen, researchers can target diseases. The approach is effective at extremely low doses, Pascual said. In some cases, tolerance is produced after only one dose.MS is one of many diseases that the new biotechnology could target. Becky Wiehe, regional program manager for the Montana Division, All America Chapter, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, said she is encouraged every time she hears about research projects that can help people with MS. She didn't used to hear such reports."There are many investigations in the research pipeline," Wiehe said. "That, to me, is exciting. It suggests we have new places to go, and we will get there."At least 1,600 Montanans have multiple sclerosis, and much about the neurological disease of the brain and spinal cord is a mystery, Wiehe continued. Common symptoms are fatigue, tingling, numbness, and inflammation of the nerve to the eye, but symptoms come and go unpredictably in many people. Montana also has a relatively high number of cases which are related, it seems, to genetic tendencies and the state's distance from the equator.MS becomes more common the farther you are from the equator, Wiehe said, theorizing that, "It might be a viral issue in colder climates."She added that Montana's level of MS is comparable to those in other states and countries along the 48th parallel. She said it might also reflect the large number of Montanans whose ancestors came from Scandinavia and Norway. Those areas have MS levels similar to Montana's . www.aarda.org