3/24/16 3/24/16

New autoantibodies recognized for rheumatoid arthritis

New autoantibodies recognized for rheumatoid arthritis, including antibodies to oxidized collagen, can serve as early disease markers and tools for therapeutic monitoring.

12/29/15 12/29/15

Circadian rhythms of inflammation

Treatment of chronic inflammation can be enhanced and adrenal suppression minimized by circadian dosing of anti-inflammatory medication.

12/10/15 12/10/15

Depression, inflammation and light therapy

Research shows relief from depression by combining management of inflammation with bright light and chronotherapy to correct circadian dysregulation.

5/11/15 5/11/15

Systemic inflammation drives brain neurodegeneration

n a richly valuable paper published recently in Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience the authors describe the ways in which systemic inflammation causes neurodegeneration in the brain associated with cognitive decline and a host of neuropsychiatric disorders. In the short term this manifests the anorexia, malaise, depression, and decreased physical activity known as sickness behavior (SB) that occurs with inflammation due to infection. Permanent cognitive and behavioral changes due to neurodegeneration occur when inflammation is chronic. Discerning and targeting the causes of inflammation offers opportunities for treatment.

9/10/14 9/10/14

Schizophrenia risk increased by maternal inflammation

Schizophrenia is well recognized to have a neuroinflammatory component, and a study just published in the American Journal of Psychiatry links maternal inflammation during pregnancy as reflected in elevated CRP (C-reactive protein) levels with a markedly increased irisk of schizophrenia in offspring.

6/28/14 6/28/14

'Chronic' Lyme disease overdiagnosed according to original expert

'Chronic' Lyme disease, according to Dr. Allen Steere who first identified the spirochetal contagion caused by ticks in the town of Lyme, Connecticut, is a seductive but all too often misleading diagnosis that may prevent patients from finding the care that they need.

6/21/14 6/21/14

Antioxidants in excess can increase inflammation and blunt benefits of exercise

Antioxidants, even glutathione, taken in excess can increase rather than ameliorate harmful inflammation...The use of antioxidants must be calibrated with careful consideration of the balance between protective and suppressive effects according to the needs of the individual patient.

4/9/14 4/9/14

Epilepsy as an autoimmune disorder

Epilepsy should be evaluated in case management for neuroinflammation that reduces neuronal thresholds of excitability, and more evidence that this can be due to autoimmunity was just published in JAMA Neurology.

9/10/13 9/10/13

Autism and autoimmunity: more evidence

9/4/13 9/4/13

Chronic Lyme disease, post-Lyme disease syndrome and insights from the pathophysiology of sepsis

Chronic Lyme disease, now correctly termed post-Lyme disease syndrome (PLDS), has challenged and confused practitioners and patients unfamiliar with the potential autoimmune sequelae of infection... The principles of managing autoimmunity, triggered by infection or not, entail discernment of the multiple underlying mechanisms contributing to loss of immune tolerance of self-tissue...This must be borne in mind by the clinician managing either autoimmunity triggered by Lyme or other infections

10/6/12 10/6/12

Acute gastrointestinal infection can turn on autoimmune disorders

Autoimmune disorders can be promoted by a variety of factors that must be considered in case management.Acute gastrointestinal infection—such as a food-borne illness or viral gastroenteritis—can cause the immune system to lose tolerance for commensal bacteria (the ones that normally live in the intestines), contributing to the development of autoimmune disorders.