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

For more information on autoimmune diseases visit www.aarda.org

Autoimmune Disease Breakthrough Gained by Identification of 30 Errant Genes

A report in the January issue of Nature magazine announces that one more step in understanding what may cause the body to attack itself in its war against autoimmune disease has been discovered by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Whitehead Institute, says the Autoimmune Related Diseases Association (AARDA), a national nonprofit patient advocacy organization.
Newswise — A report in the January issue of Nature magazine announces that one more step in understanding what may cause the body to attack itself in its war against autoimmune disease has been discovered by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Whitehead Institute, says the Autoimmune Related Diseases Association (AARDA), a national nonprofit patient advocacy organization.What happens in certain cases to cause the body's immune system to go wild with an over reaction when it encounters invading viruses or bacteria, thus resulting in one or more autoimmune diseases--such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, thyroid disease (Graves', Hashimoto's), juvenile (type 1) diabetes?
Researchers Richard Young and Alexander Marson, an M.D./Ph.D. student working in Young's laboratory, have reported discovering 30 genes that go awry in autoimmune diseases. According to Young, the regulatory T cells (called “T regs”) that normally control the immune system may have genetic defects. In that case, the T regs protective powers are weakened.
The "brain" of the T regs is a protein called Foxp3. It can send the message to increase or decrease the production of other genes. Dr. Marson, study lead author, said, "We identified a set of roughly 30 genes that are clearly regulated by Foxp3 and, surprisingly, a lot of them are suppressed by Foxp3." Mutation in more of the genes, PTPN22, is associated with a number of autoimmune disorders. It is speculated that altering the Foxp3 gene might be one way to reach a cure of autoimmune diseases.
Two significant implications have emerged from this research. Marson commented, "One is that we've identified this core set of genes that are probably likely to play key roles in preventing autoimmune more disease." He added, "The second implication, which is maybe more long-term, is that we hope that identifying these targets will allow us to screen for drugs to mimic the function of Foxp3 and, thus, treat autoimmune disease."
Autoimmune disease pioneer Noel R. Rose, M.D., Director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Autoimmune Disease Research, says that treating autoimmune disorders will require enhancing either the number or effectiveness of regulatory T cells. He remarked that the MIT study is "certainly important in trying to understand how these regulatory T cells work." He cautions, "Whether this will have important functional implications, only time will tell."
Commenting on the study results, Virginia Ladd, AARDA president and executive director, observes, “The discovery adds weight to the reason why autoimmune diseases should be considered a disease category similar to the way that cancer is viewed rather than as singular diseases.” She adds, “It also lends proof to the genetic connection among these diseases and an understanding as to why these diseases run in families.”
Ms. Ladd points out that the public is unaware of the genetic connection among various autoimmune diseases, and patients are seldom queried by healthcare professionals regarding the family history in autoimmune disease. AARDA is pressing for federal legislation that would bring more awareness to autoimmune diseases and the fact that collectively they affect millions of Americans.
The American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association is the only national organization dedicated to addressing the problem of autoimmunity, the major cause of chronic illness. For more information, please visit AARDA’s Web site at http://www.aarda.org or call 586-776-5903 or 888-856-9433.