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[Marp2]

I was just reading a very interesting and informative ARTICLE about a product in clinical trials for auto-immune diseases and though I would share the following excerpt (hope it pastes in a readable manner):

The technology behind Coronado's product was developed by Weinstock and researchers at the University of Iowa, where Weinstock was affiliated before Tufts. It is based on the "hygiene hypothesis," which holds that many developed countries have, in some ways, become too clean for their own good.

Millions of organisms, including viruses, bacteria and worms, enter the body through contact with dirt. Researchers believe many of these organisms are needed to train the body's immune system to recognize and fight disease.

"Microbes have adapted to us, and us to them, and we use them to stimulate our immune system," said Dennis Kasper, a professor of medicine, microbiology and immunobiology at Harvard Medical School, who is not involved with Coronado's product.

Today in many parts of the world these organisms are kept at bay with an array of antibacterial soaps, detergents and sanitizing gels.

Studies have shown that the incidence of autoimmune disease tends to be highest in the developed world, and is highest there among upper-income groups. Weinstock and others hypothesize that the elimination of certain intestinal parasites may have led to the loss in some individuals of a key mechanism for modulating the immune system.

Standard treatments for autoimmune disorders include injectable drugs that block a protein known as tumor necrosis factor. They include Amgen's Enbrel and Abbott's Humira. These depress the immune system and send its army of infection-fighting cells back to their barracks.

They also raise the risk of serious infection, including tuberculosis, and some types of cancer. Coronado's chief executive officer, Bobby Sandage Jr., says that is one reason why patients with serious conditions would choose the company's drug despite its provenance.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48781585/ns/health-health_care/#.UNzH4Xfl_oA