Sounds promising to me. Here's some article highlights
"One of the nice things about this discovery is that it is one of the few treatments in the auto-immune world and in the transplantation world that works not by attacking the effector cells, but by increasing the good regulating cells. So it works in a very different way from almost every other treatment we've got available."
My opinion------------->"Studies have demonstrated that consuming helminths parasites can control the immune system and increase T-cell production to fight illnesses, such as multiple sclerosis and celiac disease. In the developed world there has been a significant increase in auto-immune diseases and this may be due to the absence of the worms in guts in these nations."
Now.... here's the article. ... Hope that this brings people hope that reassures you that you HAVE NOT ran out of possible options. Scientists are constantly working on finding a cure and the determination to find one is there. For the competitive driven (type A' people :) failing at something they are determined to discover is not an option. They will eventually find! Now to boost your hope a little. This type of person isn't just 1 individual. There are a few thousand driven people that make it a priority to find the answer.I don't agree with the author regarding why developed countries have more people with auto-immune conditions compared with under developed countries. Absence of worms?? I highly doubt that. The reason isn't complicated, it's logical and makes sense. Our food is loaded with stuff that doesn't belong in the human body. Everything is processed, has hormones in it, sprayed with chemicals our body rejects, the animals on farms that we eat for food are not all healthy (the conditions of some of these farms are in need of a serious inspection/fine & clean up. Because of the need to mass produce food, the food is made quicker and it's possible to get the product to taste "similar"without taking the extra steps to make it correctly (Good example of this: BREAD - a step is skipped in the making of bread products that is necessary for digestion-that's a whole other post in and off itself). To touch on the developing countries; they have a a completely different issue when it comes to health problems relating to food (Not having an adequate amount of money is the reason for most of the tainted foods making people ill. cholera is one i'll mention - often waterborne, however many foods also transmit the infection. In addition, ice and raw or underprocessed seafood are pathways for cholera transmission. Another is Mycotoxins - mostly found in grains/cereals in developing tropical locations where the toxins are produced by molds that contaminate the food ((and once again the issue is related to the lack of money)) A sanitary location where food is made/packaged is a must, improper storage, and conditions during transport and marketing can also contribute to fungal mold growth putting people at higher risk of contracting myocotoxins.
Autoimmune Disease Treatment With New Injection
A persons immune system protects them from disease and infection. However, in individuals with an auto-immune disease, their immune system causes the body to attack itself.
Lead researcher of the study, Dr Suzanne Hodgkinson. From UNSW's Faculty of Medicine and Liverpool Hospital, notes that unlike most current studies, which focus on preventing "bad" or "effector" cells, the new approach in this study involves increasing good regulating cells in the body.
The team injected cell-signaling proteins called cytokines, in particular cytokine Interleukin-5 (II-5 cytokine), in order to induce the body's T-cell front-line defenses.
When T-regulatory cells are created to be specific to a particular protein they develop receptors for the Il-5 cytokine. This increase from the Il-5 cytokine enables the immune system to control its response to disease more effectively without causing the immune system to go into overdrive.
The researchers injected cloned II-5 cytokine into rats with Guillain-"Barré syndrome - a neurological condition. They found that the rodents recovered considerably faster, and did not fall ill if treated as a precaution. Furthermore, the injection may also be helpful in animals with multiple sclerosis, those with kidney disease nephritis, as well as in animals whose bodies have rejected organ transplantation.
Dr. Hodgkinson explained:
"One of the nice things about this discovery is that it is one of the few treatments in the auto-immune world and in the transplantation world that works not by attacking the effector cells, but by increasing the good regulating cells. So it works in a very different way from almost every other treatment we've got available."
The researchers highlight that the new injection could be more appealing than inoculation by parasitic worms - an alternative method in regulating auto-immune conditions.
Studies have demonstrated that consuming helminths parasites can control the immune system and increase T-cell production to fight illnesses, such as multiple sclerosis and celiac disease. In the developed world there has been a significant increase in auto-immune diseases and this may be due to the absence of the worms in guts in these nations.
Dr Hodgkinson said:
"The process we've developed may be the same process that the helminths kick off. When you get a helminths infestation, one of the changes in your immune response is an increase in cells called eosinophils and these cells make the cytokine Interleukin-5.
In this new treatment, it's a matter of injecting the interleukin-5 and the body does the rest. It's both safe and effective and we think inducing the immune response by injection may be more attractive to people than swallowing parasitic worms."
According to Dr Hodgkinson, clinical trials could be conducted within the next two to five years.
Written By Grace Rattue
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today