Tag: immunology
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Under the Ink: The Silent Effects of Tattoo Pigments
Photo by: ilovetattoos from Pixabay / March 28, 2018 Tattoos are now a common way for people, especially younger adults, to express themselves. As millions of people dive into tattoo culture, it raises an important question: What actually happens to the ink once it enters the body? There has been increasing concern about tattoo safety,…
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Can low blood oxygen silently weaken your immune system by tweaking the genetics?
Photo by: Nasimudeen, R. from Wikimedia Commons / 2017 Climbing a mountain and being hospitalised with severe lung disease both have similar effects on your immunity. Scientists from the University of Edinburgh have discovered that low blood oxygen levels (hypoxemia) can trigger a change in the genetic programming of the immune system, making key immune…
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Can the body remove HIV by itself?
Two patients have astonishingly cured themselves of HIV without any therapy. Kevin Boyle discusses these novel findings and their potential implications in the development of a vaccine against the HIV virus. A recent report in the Annals of Internal Medicine has shown that a female patient previously infected with HIV was able to remove the…
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HIV Retrovirus: Current advances and mysteries
Claudia Singh Gill discusses the mechanism of HIV infection and the potential advances to treat the deadly retrovirus. 37.7 million people are living with HIV in 2020. Almost one million people die each year from the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The HIV virus targets the cells in the immune system,…
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Nanoparticle based vaccines: a potentially new addition to the “vaccine menu”?
A versatile and highly effective flu vaccine required in tiny amounts might be just around the corner: too good to be true? Kevin Boyle looks at recent advances. For around 70 years, flu vaccines have mostly been made the same way – using chicken eggs. The virus is injected into the eggs and incubated for…
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HLA Genotype and its effect on the severity of COVID-19 Infections
Isabelle Ferenczi introduces the importance of Human Leukocyte Antigens and their potential role in determining a given patient’s response to COVID-19 infection. A brief introduction to HLA Human Leukocyte (white blood cell) Antigens (HLA), are proteins that have a vital role in presenting foreign peptide (short amino acid chain) antigens in the bloodstream. Antigens are…
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Sex differences in immune responses to COVID-19
There are a broad range of COVID-19 symptoms, which widely differ in severity between patients. Age quickly emerged as the most significant predictor of this. COVID-19 related deaths are extremely uncommon in those under 50, but for those over 75, the odds of surviving COVID-19 decreases dramatically. Sadly, over 10 percent of this age group…
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Coronagenes: A study of the genes behind severe COVID-19
COVID-19 affects individuals in different ways. Some people are asymptomatic whereas others require intensive care; most cases are short lived, but others experience more long term symptoms. The body’s reaction to COVID-19, like most illnesses, is dictated by both environmental and genetic factors. As COVID-19 emerged, environmental risk factors for severe symptoms, such as old…
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COVID-19 may trigger diabetes
There is emerging evidence that the relationship between COVID-19 and diabetes is bi-directional. Recent observations suggest that COVID-19 symptoms are not only exacerbated by diabetes but that SARS-CoV-2 (the virus causing COVID-19) also triggers the development of diabetes in non-diabetic COVID-19 patients. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported that the risk of…
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Dexamethasone: a steroid superhero?
With the US buying up the world’s stock of Remdesivir, will dexamethasone emerge as the wonder cure to save lives amidst this pandemic? Researchers have made an exciting discovery in the race to find effective therapies against COVID-19. Dexamethasone, a cheap and widely prescribed steroid, has emerged triumphant in the RECOVERY trial conducted at the…