New Drug Combination Shrinks Kidney Cancers

DURHAM, N.C. — By using a new combination of two anticancer drugs, researchers at Duke University Medical Center have dramatically improved response rates of patients with metastatic kidney cancer, which is now generally considered incurable.

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Oral cancer screening

Filed under: Mouth Cancer, Prevention, Oral Cancer

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Outta Body Mommy blogs attempt to stop smoking

Filed under: Lung Cancer, Mouth Cancer, Prevention, Oral Cancer, Events, Stress Reduction, Blogs, Smoking

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World No Tobacco Day: tobacco disguised as candy

Filed under: Drug, Lung Cancer, Mouth Cancer, All Cancers, Oral Cancer, Events, Teen Cancers, Smoking

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New Drug Therapies Look Promising for Bowel Diseases

For bowel disorders such as Crohn’s disease and irritable bowel syndrome, long-term treatments with new compounds look promising, researchers report.

And, for those with moderate to severe Crohn’s disease, which often does not respond to conventional treatment, the new biologic therapies, which target the specific cause of the inflammation causing the disease instead of suppressing the entire immune system as traditional medications do, also look good, experts said.

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Human Immunodeficiency Virus

When was HIV discovered and how is it diagnosed?

In 1981, homosexual men with symptoms of a disease that now are considered typical of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) were first described in Los Angeles and New York. The men had an unusual type of lung infection (pneumonia) called Pneumocystis carinii (now known as Pneumocystis jiroveci) pneumonia (PCP) and rare skin tumors called Kaposi’s sarcoma. The patients were noted to have a severe reduction of a type of cell in the blood that is an important part of the immune system, called CD4 cells. These cells, often referred to as T cells, help the body fight infections. Shortly thereafter, this disease was recognized throughout the United States, Western Europe, and Africa. In 1983, researchers in the United States and France described the virus that causes AIDS, now known as the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and belonging to the group of viruses called retroviruses. In 1985, a blood test became available that measures antibodies to HIV that are the body’s immune response to the HIV. This blood test remains the best method for diagnosing HIV infection. Recently, tests have become available to look for these same antibodies in the saliva and urine, and some can provide results within 20 minutes of testing.

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Rheumatoid Arthritis

What is rheumatoid arthritis?

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that causes chronic inflammation of the joints. Rheumatoid arthritis can also cause inflammation of the tissue around the joints, as well as other organs in the body. Autoimmune diseases are illnesses that occur when the body tissues are mistakenly attacked by its own immune system. The immune system is a complex organization of cells and antibodies designed normally to “seek and destroy” invaders of the body, particularly infections. Patients with autoimmune diseases have antibodies in their blood that target their own body tissues, where they can be associated with inflammation. Because it can affect multiple other organs of the body, rheumatoid arthritis is referred to as a systemic illness and is sometimes called rheumatoid disease.

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