Many people don’t realize it, but our immune system has a vital role in healing ankle sprains and other muscle injuries. In fact, injured muscles send out signals to the immune system that attract white blood cells to the damaged tissue. Some of these white blood cells, called macrophages, cause swelling but also remove debris […]
Read MoreIt doesn’t quite have the same abilities as Transformers (the popular sci-fi superheroes) to morph into cars, trucks, boats, and airplanes, but a harmful fungus undergoes a remarkable transformation once it enters the body. Studies in mice show that as the fungal intruder travels to different organs, including the brain, it changes in size and […]
Read MoreMillions of people worldwide live with multiple sclerosis (MS), a disease in which the immune system attacks cells in the central nervous system (CNS). MS causes unpredictable symptoms that can include tremors, weakness, vision problems, and fatigue. Treatments for MS aim to protect neurons by reining in the immune system. This slows progression of the […]
Read MoreEach year, almost 500,000 open heart surgeries are performed in the United States. During these operations, surgeons rely on heart-lung machines to keep patients alive while they transplant healthy arteries and veins onto an ailing heart. However, these machines aren’t perfect. Often oxygen doesn’t flow or reach organs as well as it would naturally. As […]
Read MoreLou Gehrig, the legendary “Iron Horse” of baseball known for his durability on the diamond, is among the most famous people to develop amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a rare progressive neurodegenerative disease. In fact, 80 year after his death, ALS is often referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Then, as now, there is no cure. […]
Read MoreAn experimental treatment can essentially reverse type 1 diabetes in certain types of laboratory mice. An injection of the therapeutic agent converts cells that normally control glucose production into ones that generate insulin. What this implies for millions of people who have type 1 diabetes is that there is a chance that individuals could eventually […]
Read MoreUniversity of Utah scientists have developed an injectable drug that blocks HIV, the virus that causes the life-long disease acquired immunodefiniciency syndrome (AIDS). The new drug potentially offers long-lasting protection from the infection with fewer side effects. The drug, which was tested in non-human primates, could eventually replace or supplement combination drug “cocktail” therapies currently used […]
Read MoreWith the COVID-19 pandemic in full swing, there is a clear need for new treatments and a vaccine against the disease. Animal research has long been one of the first steps in medical discovery. In the battle against COVID-19, the approach remains crucial for developing strategies to understand and combat the disease. Mice and monkeys are […]
Read MoreAbout one in 54 American children are diagnosed with autism by age 8, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. Utah’s prevalence rate is even higher, with about one in 50 8-year-old children identified with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Only New Jersey has a higher rate in the United States. Some people with this developmental […]
Read MoreWhen things get rough, many Americans turn to prescription pills. About one in eight over the age of 12 take antidepressants for mental disorders such as depression and anxiety, and a quarter of those have done so for 10 years or more, according to a 2017 study by the National Center for Health Statistics. But what […]
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