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What Role Do Cytokines Play in Autoimmune Diseases?

Waverunner

Senior Member
Messages
1,079
Cytokines could be at the start of any autoimmune disease. What perfectly fits into the ME picture is the finding that Coxsackievirus B3 triggered autoimmune myocarditis. So if we look at it from a broader perspective; could infections start autoimmune diseases?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111027172826.htm

ScienceDaily (Oct. 27, 2011) Cytokines, a varied group of signaling chemicals in the body, have been described as the software that runs the immune system, but when that software malfunctions, dysregulation of the immune system can result in debilitating autoimmune diseases such as lupus, arthritis, and diabetes. Leading experts in the field of cytokine research present their most up-to-date findings and unique perspectives on the role of cytokines in autoimmune diseases in a special issue of the Journal of Interferon & Cytokine Research, a peer-reviewed publication of Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

Dhan Kalvakolanu, PhD, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Journal Co-Editors-in-Chief Ganes C. Sen, PhD, and Thomas A. Hamilton, PhD, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, together with Guest Editors Kamal Moudgil, MD, PhD, University of Maryland School of Medicine, and Divaker Choubey, PhD, University of Cincinnati have compiled a wealth of in-depth review articles, original research, and insightful perspectives from expert researchers on the evolving understanding of how cytokines can both contribute to the initiation of autoimmune diseases and control the inflammation associated with the acute phase of these diseases. This special issue of the Journal is the first in a two-volume collection of articles.
In his introductory Editorial, Dr. Kalvakolanu identifies cytokines as the first step in the onset of immune responses in which the body attacks its own cells and tissues, leading to the development of autoimmune diseases. Drs. Moudgil and Choubey present an overview of the role cytokines play in the induction, regulation, and treatment of autoimmunity. An original research article, "Critical Cytokine Pathways to Cardiac Inflammation," by Noel Rose, PhD, The Johns Hopkins Schools of Medicine and Public Health (Baltimore, MD), describes a mouse model of autoimmune myocarditis -- inflammation of the heart muscles -- that is triggered by infection with Coxsackievirus B3. The model allows researchers to study the cytokine pathways involved in this disease, with the goal of identifying chemical markers that could be used to predict patients more likely to experience an autoimmune reaction after infection.
The Journal of Interferon & Cytokine Research is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published monthly in print and online that covers all aspects of interferons and cytokines from basic science to clinical applications. Journal of Interferon & Cytokine Research is the Official Journal of the International Society for Interferon and Cytokine Research. Tables of content and a free sample issue may be viewed online at www.liebertpub.com/jir

The full article can be found here:

http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1089/jir.2011.0065
 

Waverunner

Senior Member
Messages
1,079
It is interesting but many more people will be dead or have to suffer for a long time before these findings will be put into treatments. I bet that if there was a free market in health care, comparable to mobile phones, Samsung or any other company would have come up with way better solutions than the big pharma companies and government.
 

*GG*

senior member
Messages
6,389
Location
Concord, NH
It is interesting but many more people will be dead or have to suffer for a long time before these findings will be put into treatments. I bet that if there was a free market in health care, comparable to mobile phones, Samsung or any other company would have come up with way better solutions than the big pharma companies and government.

I wonder, or would they like to keep us sick and keep milking us/gov't/insurance?

GG
 

Waverunner

Senior Member
Messages
1,079
I wonder, or would they like to keep us sick and keep milking us/gov't/insurance?

GG

This is the system we are currently in. Would you take an expensive drug that does not cure a disease but rather makes you dependent on it? You would NOT if:

a) There are better alternatives.
b) You have access to these alternatives.

The problem:

- The pharma companies together with the politicians are milking us right now.

- If you look at the mobile market, who is most successful? Those companies who sell crappy mobile phones nobody wants or companies like Apple and Samsung who produce high quality mobile phones every year? Does government interfere in this market? No. Who does? The consumer! Who interferes with pharma? NOT the consumer but the government! That is no free market. Did you follow the fast transition on the mobile market? We had standard mobiles with bad displays 8 years ago and now we have smartphones with Super - AMOLED displays that can nearly do everything and cost less. At the same time, did we have any breakthrough in treatment for chronic disease? No, we didn't and except filing new patents after they added a new molecule to already approved drugs, pharma did not do very much. Why did they not do very much? Because there is no free market and no pressure on them. What would happen to Samsung if they just changed the color of their mobiles? In a few months noone would buy any more Samsung mobiles because they are outdated and Samsung would go bankrupt within a few years.

- What people need to understand is that government never was and never will be the solution, the free market is. Would consumers buy crappy products when they have the alternative to buy high quality products for the same price? No they won't. Would politicians approve crappy drugs to milk the patients? Unfortunately they do, while at the same time they come up with regulations that destroy competition and prohibit a free market. Just imagine what would happen if mobile producers would be required to run the same long lasting hurdles as pharma companies. I bet we couldn't even buy smartphones in 10 years from now, while Samsung and Apple would spend their money on influencing politicians to approve their mobiles but nothing else.

When patients can finally decide what product or drug they want to buy a lot would be gained.
 

*GG*

senior member
Messages
6,389
Location
Concord, NH
I agree with you, I am becoming more libertarian every day. The gov't has failed us and I don't expect it greatly improve!

GG
 

Waverunner

Senior Member
Messages
1,079
I am becoming more libertarian every day.

This statement makes me very happy. Libertarianism does not mean that we give the power of the government to some companies. Libertarianism means that we give the power to the consumer. When the consumer has power to choose, the companies are forced to compete with each other because if one offers a bad drug, as soon as a better drug becomes available, consumers will spend their money on the new product. But as long as government,

a) prevents patients from deciding
b) prevents new companies from entering the market


we will be in this greatly inefficient system we are right now.