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(Phys.org)—The Nanotechnology Innovation Station of the National Institute for Materials Science has succeeded in development of a technology which utilizes nanoparticles to enhance the action of immunity activating nucleic acid drugs. http://phys.org/news264933756.html Nanotechnology Thu, 23 Aug 2012 09:42:54 EST news264933756 Research has shown that playing a musical instrument can help nourish, cultivate, and increase intelligence in children, but playing a used instrument also can pose a potentially dangerous health risk. http://phys.org/news219317728.html Medicine & Health Mon, 14 Mar 2011 10:35:53 EST news219317728 An international team of lung experts has new evidence from a study in shantytowns near Lima, Peru, that teens living immediately next to a busy roadway have increased risk of allergies and asthma. The odds can go up by 30 percent for developing allergies to dust mites, pet hairs and mold, and can double for having actual asthma symptoms, such as wheezing and using medications to help them breathe. http://phys.org/news214675921.html Medicine & Health Wed, 19 Jan 2011 17:30:01 EST news214675921 A gene that encodes a protein responsible for determining whether certain immune cells live or die shows subtle differences in some people with asthma, a team led by Johns Hopkins researchers reports in the June European Journal of Human Genetics. http://phys.org/news197049684.html Medicine & Health Tue, 29 Jun 2010 17:01:51 EST news197049684 (PhysOrg.com) -- A simple blood test can now predict whether newborn babies are at high risk of developing allergies as they grow older, thanks to research involving the University of Adelaide. http://phys.org/news193652534.html Medicine & Health Fri, 21 May 2010 09:24:01 EST news193652534 Asthma and other allergic diseases are caused by inappropriate immune responses. Soluble IgE molecules, produced by immune cells known as B cells, are key immune mediators of these diseases. Therapeutic targeting of IgE in the blood can neutralize its effects and is an effective treatment for moderate-to-severe allergic asthma. http://phys.org/news192733563.html Medicine & Health Mon, 10 May 2010 18:06:27 EST news192733563 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine have identified a mechanism that causes inflammation in asthma and other allergic diseases, a discovery that could lead to new targets to control such allergic reactions. http://phys.org/news192179937.html Medicine & Health Tue, 04 May 2010 08:19:17 EST news192179937 Scientists have identified a region of a human chromosome that is associated with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), a recently recognized allergic disease. People with EoE frequently have difficulty eating or may be allergic to one or more foods. This study further suggests that a suspected so-called master allergy gene may play a role in the development of this rare but debilitating disorder. http://phys.org/news187186484.html Medicine & Health Sun, 07 Mar 2010 13:00:04 EST news187186484 A new study in human cells has singled out a molecule that specifically directs immune cells to develop the capability to produce an allergic response. The signaling molecule, called thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP), is key to the development of allergic diseases such as asthma, atopic dermatitis (eczema) and food allergy. http://phys.org/news183225745.html Medicine & Health Wed, 20 Jan 2010 16:20:04 EST news183225745 On the skin's surface, bacteria are abundant, diverse and constant, but inflammation is undesirable. Research at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine now shows that the normal bacteria living on the skin surface trigger a pathway that prevents excessive inflammation after injury. http://phys.org/news178119645.html Medicine & Health Sun, 22 Nov 2009 13:42:55 EST news178119645 Scientists at Johns Hopkins and their colleagues have developed sugar-coated polymer strands that selectively kill off cells involved in triggering aggressive allergy and asthma attacks. Their advance is a significant step toward crafting pharmaceuticals to fight these often life-endangering conditions in a new way. http://phys.org/news177874840.html Medicine & Health Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:10:01 EST news177874840 Immunoglobulin E (IgE) is the main actor in the drama of allergy. The biological role of IgE in the immune response of an organism and the lack of control leading to allergy is the research topic of Gernot Achatz, Molekular Biology, University of Salzburg. At the 2nd European Congress of Immunology ECI 2009 held in Berlin the scientist presents new data revealing the evolution of IgE. http://phys.org/news172217696.html Medicine & Health Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:15:33 EST news172217696 Research by Peter Barnes (Imperial College, London) and colleagues may explain the effectiveness of common treatments for allergic inflammation and may point the way to targets for new treatments for allergic diseases, according to a study published in this week's open-access journal PLoS Medicine. http://phys.org/news161933211.html Medicine & Health Tue, 19 May 2009 06:27:34 EST news161933211 Researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and at Ghent University in Ghent, Belgium, have identified a new role for certain lung cells in the immune response to airborne allergens. Many foreign substances, called antigens, are inhaled daily, but the lungs have mechanisms that usually prevent people from making unwanted immune responses to these materials. http://phys.org/news157633193.html Medicine & Health Mon, 30 Mar 2009 12:00:37 EST news157633193 New knowledge points to the fact that a genetically induced lack of filaggrin, a key protein of the skin barrier, plays a decisive role in the origin of allergies. In a large study on more than 3000 school-children scientists of the Helmholtz Zentrum München and the Technische Universität München found that about 8% of the German population carry variations of the filaggrin gene, which raise the risk to develop atopic dermatitis more than threefold. In addition, these genetic variations predispose to hay fever and asthma in those with atopic dermatitis. http://phys.org/news136808225.html Medicine & Health Fri, 01 Aug 2008 11:17:05 EST news136808225