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Editor: Bijal Trivedi

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Taking a Snapshot of the Human Immune System

There are numerous tests to gauge the health of your heart. But no such widely accepted test exists for the many parts of the immune system. How can we tell if the immune system is strong or weak? Or quantify how badly it’s malfunctioning when we suffer from asthma, allergies, or arthritis?

A team led by scientists at Stanford University has taken the first steps toward creating such a test—by taking “snapshots” of the immune system.

Before we talk about what they did, let me review how the immune system protects us against disease. The innate immune system is like a standing army that defends us against invading microbes. But the innate system has no memory. It doesn’t recognize the invaders more quickly if they return. This is the job of the adaptive immune system—B and T cells. These cells not only remember invaders; they’re able to adapt their weapons—antibodies and T-cell receptors—to make them more effective. Think of them as the Special Forces. Continue reading “Taking a Snapshot of the Human Immune System” »

Clinical Studies in Your Own Backyard

Map of the U.S. indicating number of active clinical trials by state

Map of clinical trials in the U.S. as of Feb. 7, 2013
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov

NIH conducts clinical research studies for many diseases and conditions, including cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, allergy and infectious diseases, and neurological disorders. What’s more, this work is being carried out in every state of the nation, as you can see from this interactive map showing clinical studies supported by NIH and others.

Before you start exploring this map, let’s take a moment to review the basics. A clinical study involves research using human volunteers that is intended to add to medical knowledge. One common type of clinical study, called a clinical research trial, looks at the safety and effectiveness of new ways to prevent, detect, or treat diseases. Treatments might be new drugs or new combinations of drugs, new surgical procedures or devices, or new ways to use existing treatments.

If you’re interested in taking part in a clinical study, a terrific place to start is ClinicalTrials.gov, which is a service of NIH. This searchable database lists more than 139,000 federally and privately funded clinical studies in the United States, as well as around the world. For each study, the database provides information on the purpose of the research, who may participate, where the study is being conducted, and who to call or e-mail for more details. To help you in your quest, we’ve pulled together some handy search tips, along with some real-life stories from both volunteers and researchers.

Finally, please keep in mind that ClinicalTrials.gov is just a starting point. Any information that you find there should be used conjunction with advice from your doctor or another health care professional.

Who Knew? Gut Bacteria Contribute to Malnutrition

Photo of an African girl with thin limbs and a distended abdomen.

A child suffering from kwashiorkor.
Source: CDC/Phil

Here’s a surprising result from a new NIH-funded study: a poor diet isn’t the only cause of severe malnutrition. It seems that a ‘bad’ assortment of microbes in the intestine can conspire with a nutrient poor diet to promote and perpetuate malnutrition [1].

Most of us don’t spend time thinking about it, but healthy humans harbor about 100 trillion bacteria in our intestines and trillions more in our nose, mouth, skin, and urogenital tracts. And though your initial reaction might be “yuck,” the presence of these microbes is generally a good thing. We’ve evolved with this bacterial community because they provide services—from food digestion to bolstering the immune response—and we give them food and shelter. We call these bacterial sidekicks our ‘microbiome,’ and the latest research, much of it NIH-funded, reveals that these life passengers are critical for good health. You read that right—we need bacteria. The trouble starts when the wrong ones take up residence in our body, or the bacterial demographics shift. Then diseases from eczema and obesity to asthma and heart disease may result. Indeed, we’ve learned that microbes even modulate our sex hormones and influence the risk of autoimmune diseases like type 1 diabetes. [2] Continue reading “Who Knew? Gut Bacteria Contribute to Malnutrition” »

Got Your Red On?

The hard truth is that heart disease is the #1 killer of American women. And it’s largely preventable. The Heart Truth® was started here at NIH’s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to raise awareness of these truths. You’re probably most familiar with the campaign through its February 1st fashion statement, which has arguably become a cultural icon: the red dress. The Red Dress® is a decade old this year. And, like heart disease, it doesn’t discriminate by gender. Everyone can wear red today. It’s a symbol of solidarity – and a reminder that we should each attend to our heart’s needs every day: by making healthful decisions like exercising more, quitting smoking, and maintaining a healthy weight and blood pressure.

For more information:
The Heart Truth: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/educational/hearttruth/
Women and Heart Disease: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/hdw/

The Heart Truth info graphic

Click on the image to view full sized.
Source: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, NIH

 

Lighting up the Eyes

microscopic image of a network of blood vessels

Image created using a nuclear label of a flat-mount preparation of the hyaloid vessels from the eye.
Source: Richard Lang, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, OH

This image may conjure up thoughts of bioluminescent jellyfish, but it actually shows a network of developing blood vessels in the eye of a three day old mouse. A study in Nature last week determined that light regulates the pattern of mouse blood vessels as they develop. Observing the intermediate states of eye development is important because abnormal blood vessel development is a major cause of blindness in premature infants.

Funded by National Eye Institute, NIH.