Close X
Thursday, November 14, 2024
ADVT 
Health

Nervous system plays bigger role in infections

Darpan News Desk IANS, 28 Nov, 2014 12:47 PM
    The nervous system may play a bigger role in infections and auto-immune diseases than previously known, says a study.
     
    Learning more about that role could lead to early diagnosis and treatment of people affected by pandemics or outbreaks of contagious or deadly diseases, such as flu or Ebola, the study added.
     
    The researchers noted that neurons of the peripheral nervous system - specialised nerve cells that transmit information throughout the body - are known to send information about local infections or inflammation to the central nervous system (CNS - the brain and spinal cord) so the CNS can co-ordinate the whole body response.
     
    "The neurons may be sending the CNS not just a general 'danger warning' but specific information about whether the infection is caused by a virus or bacteria, the type of bacteria present or the nature of the auto-immune reaction," said Benjamin Steinberg from St. Michael's Hospital in Canada.
     
    "The blue sky idea is that if we know the language and can read the code, in theory we can engineer or write our own," Steinberg said.
     
    Since those messages are being sent from neurons to the CNS in real time, knowing what they are saying could speed diagnoses or prognostication of everything from the stomach flu to rheumatoid arthritis.
     
    The current method for confirming infections is to test body fluids or tissues, sometimes using invasive techniques, a process that can take hours, days or even longer.
     
    "Timely diagnosis and intervention are essential to minimize deaths and complications," Steinberg stressed.
     
    The study appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine.

    MORE Health ARTICLES

    Women bosses more prone to depression

    Women bosses more prone to depression
    Job authority increases symptoms of depression among women but decreases them among men, a study from University of Texas at Austin finds....

    Women bosses more prone to depression

    How stem cells can speed up cardiac repair

    How stem cells can speed up cardiac repair
    Delivering stem cells directly into damaged heart muscle after a heart attack may help repair and regenerate injured tissue, according to a study.....

    How stem cells can speed up cardiac repair

    Fibre-rich Diet Helps You Lose Weight

    Fibre-rich Diet Helps You Lose Weight
    Certain fibres contained in prepared foods such as cereals, cereal bars, baking mixes, and drinks may cause a shift towards beneficial bacteria in the gut and assist in weight loss when made part of a long-term, daily diet, says a new research.

    Fibre-rich Diet Helps You Lose Weight

    Low Vitamin D levels may lead to early death

    Low Vitamin D levels may lead to early death
    Vitamin D deficiency is not just bad for your bone health, it can also result in various other diseases leading to an early death, research shows.

    Low Vitamin D levels may lead to early death

    Feeling demoralised bad for your heart

    Feeling demoralised bad for your heart
    Vital exhaustion, the combination of fatigue, increased irritability, and feeling demoralised, may raise a healthy man or woman's risk of first-time cardiovascular...

    Feeling demoralised bad for your heart

    Young women smokers at chronic period pain risk

    Young women smokers at chronic period pain risk
    Women who take up smoking during their teenage years run a significantly heightened risk of developing chronic severe period pain, finds new research....

    Young women smokers at chronic period pain risk