Posted on 01/24/2015 10:30:04 AM PST by BenLurkin
Washington University School of Medicine researchers have found that those patients who suffer from inflammatory bowel diseases also had a greater variety of viruses contained within their digestive systems than they found in the bowels of health volunteers. This, they believe, suggests that viruses somehow play a role in the development of this condition.
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“This is the tip of the iceberg. A significant portion of the viral DNA we identified in these patients is unfamiliar to us—it comes from newly identified viruses we don’t know much about,” explains senior study author Herbert W. Virgin. “We have a great deal of groundwork to do, including sequencing the genetic material of these viruses and learning how they interact with the gut and gut bacteria, before we can determine if changes in the virome cause these conditions or results from them.”
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“Much of the increased viral diversity in participants with inflammatory bowel diseases was in the form of bacteriophages, which are viruses that infect bacteria and can incorporate themselves into the bacteria’s genetic material.”
(Excerpt) Read more at diabetesinsider.com ...
? IBD was around long before Accutane.
A side effect page done by lawyers???
i wonder if this is just IBD or if it includes IBS. Interesting . . . ground breaking as well
Sounds like just IBD, IBS is a whole different ballgame.
I can BS with the best of them.
sounds like it, bump for more reading
I suspect that such viral DNA will also be found in the gut and in the immune cells of affected individuals. Notably, new technologies may soon permit the editing out or suppression of such viral sequences from living cells. This offers the prospect of cures at the genetic level.
they don’;t know what causes it, they have been studying this for many years and are really no closer to an answer- many times they have been ‘fairly certaqin’ about this cause o that cause- but they can’t really find out why the body goes haywire and starts attacking itself
they don’;t know what causes it, they have been studying this for many years and are really no closer to an answer- many times they have been ‘fairly certaqin’ about this cause o that cause- but they can’t really find out why the body goes haywire and starts attacking itself
[[This offers the prospect of cures at the genetic level]]
I believe there are ‘cures’ similar around now, but they involve some very dangerous procedures, and the person goes through hell getting it done
This treatment requires painful extractions of marrow cells using a large needle shoved deep into the hip bone, then chemotherapy, followed by slow transfusion of altered marrow cells that produce immune cells trained to attack the myeloma. This therapy is extending and may save my uncle's life, but it is frequently painful and immiserating.
In contrast, new methods under research make it possible to alter both stem cells and mature adult cells at the genetic level using relatively simple to administer injections and transfusions. Unlike current methods, these new techniques of genetic silencing and editing are extraordinarily precise. Early animal studies suggest that one shot cures may sometimes be possible.
Plausibly, it may one day be possible to silence or edit out offending rogue viral DNA that has made its way into the gut and immune systems of inflammatory bowel disease patients. Indeed, since the gut is relatively accessible to treatment and has a natural tolerance mechanism, there might not have to be the excruciating procedures that my uncle is presently enduring.
[[In contrast, new methods under research make it possible to alter both stem cells and mature adult cells at the genetic level using relatively simple to administer injections and transfusions. ]]
I’ve read that it can be a living hell for those going through it, and having to go on anti-rejection meds the rest of their lives? Is that right? Those meds are awful-— Hopefully they will make it much easier to bear-
That’s cool- I have Crohn’s disease, nd have been optimistically skeptical that a ‘cure’ is in the near future, and I’ve read there were stem cell replacement treatments but they were really horrendous to go through- I’m probably too old to live to see the day they do find a cure, and mine has caused massive damage, and there isn’t much left- so a ‘cure’ wouldn’t really matter now for me anyways- but it would be cool if people with this disease, and other diseases could face possible cures without having to endure lifelong dangerous anti-rejection drugs, or have to go through excruciating proceedures getting the cure administered0-
Crohn’s is bad. The new genetic techniques offer the hope of precise edits in the DNA of both adult and stem cells so as to eliminate or silence offending genes. Human trials and clinical use are years away, but the fundamental science is advancing rapidly.
yeah it’s definitely advancing much quicker than it has in the past- I’ve had this for over 40 years now, back I n the day not very much was known about Crohn’;s at all and I was ifnact misdiagnosed for many years and not treated medically properly for all those years- The first surgery I had the docs asked me if they could use what was removed as a teaching aid in their research department- wow- that was a lot of years ago-
but in the last few years, I’m actually now reading about possible cures in the not too distant future- I think they still don’t know what causes Crohn’s, but I don’t think it will really matter to know the actual cause if they can just cure it once it shows up- of course they will still want to know the cause so as to hopefully provide info on things to avoid (if it’s caused by environmental issues, or food issues, or some bug or whatever- so that people can cut down their odd of getting it in first place but again, it will be kinda moot really if it,. and other diseases can be genetically eliminated or tamed with safer more effective drugs and or procedures-
Bump for later
May be of interest ping...
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