In Wegener granulomatosis, inflammatory lesions (granulomas) form which cause the death of tissue in the lungs and kidneys. Although research has yet to pinpoint its exact cause, Wegener granulomatosis is ... Read More

Researchers have been using stem cell (bone marrow) transplants as a way of treating severe autoimmune disorders. The implanted stem cells generate new blood cells free of the autoimmune antibodies ... Read More

World Series watchers may have seen the "K ALS" ("strike out ALS") written on Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling's shoe. Schilling and his wife, Shonda, have devoted themselves to ... Read More

In the mid-1950's, people in Minamata, Japan, began to notice a strange illness, which was termed Minamata disease. This "disease" was discovered to be mercury poisoning as a result of ... Read More

Investigators at Weill Cornell Medical College have used gene therapy to successfully correct a rare inherited immune disorder, called hyper IgM X-linked immunodeficiency, in mice. Using a special technique, the ... Read More

The Royal Liverpool Children's NHS Trust has announced that a disagreement with Ruth Winston-Jones over the medical care of her 9-month-old son Luke has been settled by the courts. Luke ... Read More

Individuals with Tolosa-Hunt syndrome experience severe pain behind or around one eye that begins suddenly, followed by double vision and numbness of the forehead. Tolosa-Hunt syndrome can be relieved by ... Read More

Researchers at Ruprecht-Karls-University in Heidelberg, Germany, investigated whether the excitability of neurons in the motor cortex is enhanced in stiff-person syndrome, and if this is related to autoimmunity against glutamic ... Read More

Aplidin, a drug developed by Zeltia, was granted orphan drug status by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on October 6, 2004, for use in treating multiple myeloma, a ... Read More

Mycosis fungoides is the most common of the cutaneous T-cell lymphomas, a group of rare skin cancers. Like other cancers, survival rates for mycosis fungoides depend on the disease being ... Read More

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on October 7, 2004, granted orphan drug status to Yondelis, a drug used to treat soft tissue sarcomas (cancers which affect body tissue ... Read More

In 2003, researchers in an international team discovered that proteins involved in the complex disorder known as Bardet-Biedl syndrome were found in and near cilia. The nose and olfactory system ... Read More

Werner syndrome is the most common of the rare premature aging disorders. Adults with the syndrome start aging rapidly in their mid-30s, developing gray hair, a wrinkled face, cataracts, osteoporosis, ... Read More

A study published in the September 2004 issue of Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine does not find a link between group A streptoccal infection and PANDAS (pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric ... Read More

Scientists at Columbia University in New York are researching a neurological disorders known as MELAS syndrome (mitochondrial encephalomyopathy, lactic acidosis, and stroke-like episodes). In a study published in the May ... Read More