Ragbag Headliners

Immune Cells Use ‘Starvation Tactics’ On HIV

Scientists have shown how some cells in the body can repel attacks from HIV by starving the virus of the building blocks of life.

Viruses cannot replicate on their own; they must hijack other cells and turn them into virus production factories.

A study, published in Nature Immunology, showed how some parts of the immune system destroy their own raw materials, stopping HIV.

It is uncertain whether this could be used in therapy, experts caution.

HIV attacks the immune system and can weaken the body’s defences to the point that everyday infections become fatal.

However, not all parts of the immune system become subverted to the virus’ cause. Macrophages and dendritic cells, which have important roles in orchestrating the immune response, seem to be more resistant. –Big Health Report

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Mass. Parents Sue To Remove 'Under God' From Pledge

An Acton, Mass., school district is being sued by parents over the wording of the Pledge of Allegiance, which they say discriminates against atheists.

The anonymous parents of three children in two Acton schools, filing as John and Jane Doe, are suing the district to have the words "under God" removed from the pledge, saying it is discriminatory against their children who are being raised as atheists, WHDH-TV, Boston, reported.

The attorney for the parents, David Niose, said: "That suggests that people who don't believe in God are less patriotic than others, and that's just not the truth. Humanists and atheists are citizens, they pay their taxes, they get good grades." -The Washington Times

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Stem Cells Heal Scar Damage After Heart Attack

For the first time, researchers have used stem cells from a patient’s own heart to repair the damage to the muscle that occurs during heart attack.

Dr. Eduardo Marban, director of the Cedars Sinai Heart Institute, and his team report in the journal Lancet that 17 patients who received an injection of their own heart cells grown from their stem cells saw the scarring on their hearts shrivel by 50% over a year. Eight patients who received usual care had no change.

During a heart attack, the heart muscle is cut off from its oxygen supply. Within seconds it starts to die. The body’s immune system treats the change like a trauma and begins to wall off the dying tissue, creating an ever-thickening layer of scarring; eventually, the scar tissue hampers the heart’s ability to pump blood efficiently throughout the body. Combating or reversing this scar formation is the Holy Grail of heart attack research: keeping as much heart muscle as healthy and active as possible increases patients’ chances of recovering quickly and completely.

“Heart disease is still the number one killer of men and women, so there is a dire need for new therapies to be tested,” says Dr. Deepak Srivastava, director of the Gladstone Institute Cardiovascular Disease, who is a leader in heart stem-cell research and was not involved in the current study. “I applaud them carrying through with a clinical trial, which is great.” -Big Health Report