immunology
Presidential Commission on Bioethics Tackles Research on Children
National leaders in medicine, law, public health and disease control gathered Nov. 5, 6, at the University of Chicago Divinity School to participate in a two-day meeting of the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues to examine the numerous and complex issues surrounding medical research involving children. A central issue before the commission […]
The Western Diet’s Immune Impact
Inflammatory bowel disease is an ailment on the rise. A European study found that the incidence of IBD roughly doubled from 1990 to 2001, and even larger surges in IBD cases have been observed in areas of the United States and Europe studied since 1965. But intriguingly, this epidemic of IBD appears to be localized […]
LabBook: May 25, 2012
Welcome to LabBook, our new weekly roundup of University of Chicago Medicine & Biological Sciences research news from around campus and the world wide web. Each Friday, LabBook will recap the week on the blog, link to news stories about our faculty and studies, and briefly summarize a handful of recent publications by our researchers. […]
The Social Ladder’s Genetic Footprint
By Rob Mitchum From the teenage years through adulthood, people spend a lot of time worrying about their social status. Whether measured in wealth as economic class or by more abstract terms of leadership and popularity in the office or among friends, social standing can weigh heavily upon a person’s mind. But can an individual’s […]
Food Allergies vs. Food Intolerance
By Matt Wood Adverse reactions to foods, including eggs, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, shellfish and soy, are on the rise, especially among children. The CDC reports (PDF) that between 1997 and 2007, food allergies increased 18 percent in children under the age of 18. While we generally categorize all adverse reactions as “allergies,” they […]
Filtering the Flood of Medical Social Media
By Matt Wood It’s hard to avoid consumer advertising for prescription medications. Flip open a magazine and you’re likely to see a picture of a middle-aged couple, sitting in matching bathtubs, hawking erectile dysfunction pills. Turn on the TV and you’ll hear an actor rattling off a long list of scary-sounding side effects from a […]
A Nasal Path to Migraine Relief
Roughly 30 million Americans suffer from migraines, and as you might expect, there’s a large pharmaceutical market to prevent or stop these debilitating headaches. Drugs such as Imitrex and Verapamil employ different pharmacological modes of action, reducing migraines by adjusting neurotransmitter levels, blocking ion channels, or simulating the body’s natural painkillers. There’s also a less […]
Year in Review: UChicago Research 2011
As another year comes to a close we’d like to look back at the fascinating research breakthroughs and inspiring patient stories from 2011. ScienceLife ran 168 posts this year, and while we wish we could highlight all of them, here are a handful of our favorites from each month. January Patrick Wilson found out that […]
The Gut’s Tenants and Food Allergies
If you are an avid reader of food packaging materials or a parent of an elementary school student, you might get the feeling that food allergies are on the rise. Statistics back up this notion, with the CDC reporting an 18 percent increase [pdf] in child food allergies between 1997 or 2007. That puts current […]
