Stanford researchers link lupus to common virus in ‘breakthrough’ study

Kathleen Ford of Solano County was a nurse for more than years until one day she squatted down to help a client and hobbled by terrible joint pain couldn t stand up Then in her s Ford had been diagnosed with lupus years earlier It s a mysterious autoimmune ailment that drives inflammation as the body s own immune system fights tissue and organs instead of foreign intruders like viruses and bacteria Characteristics are a rollercoaster from hair loss to joint pain that afflicted Ford so badly hat she had to quit the job she loved Strange rashes also broke out on her legs then swiftly disappeared Related Articles Luigi Mangione s attorneys question damning announcement tied to accused CEO shooter s mom Measure B appears to hold commanding lead in latest balloting results As robustness companies get bigger so do the bills It s unclear if Trump s squad will intervene Researchers try bold new approach in a race to better treat autoimmune diseases The trend of unproven peptides is spreading through influencers and RFK Jr allies About million Americans have lupus and almost all are women There is no cure Treatments may relieve signs but the troubling side effects can include osteoporosis and eye damage More rarely lupus can be fatal It s not a fun sickness at all noted Ford now who lives in the northern Solano County city of Dixon You never know when it s going to exacerbate And for no reason The cause of lupus has eluded clinical researchers for decades But this week a company of Stanford Medicine researchers claim they ve cracked the code a progress specific independent lupus experts described as a major breakthrough that could lay the groundwork for a expected cure RELATED Stanford UCSF launch cancer research and care collaboration In a paper published Wednesday in the peer-reviewed journal Science Translational Medicine the Stanford researchers mentioned they have connected the dots between lupus and the Epstein-Barr virus a virus of Americans carry According to the examination that common virus infects certain white blood cells that are part of the immune system until ultimately more and more cells are recruited into a battle against the command centers of cells in one s own body Betty Tsao a prolific autoimmune ailment researcher and professor of medicine at the Therapeutic University of South Carolina announced other biological factors may complicate the race to cure lupus But she described the Stanford research group s paper as a major breakthrough and reported the research is convincing in illustrating the biology behind lupus This is an exciting time Tsao declared And we hope we will have much better therapy options for patients in a very short horizon Bill Robinson professor of immunology and rheumatology at the Stanford medicinal school who is the research s senior author explained the breakthrough reveals the key missing link for how EBV causes lupus using the acronym for the virus The discovery may reveal new possibilities for effective prevention and healing Now doctors offer lupus patients a wide range of medications with limited results and a slew of achievable side effects By identifying the biological process that leads to lupus Robinson mentioned he and his colleagues can pursue restoration to interrupt the immune system s misguided and dangerous attack against the body it is designed to protect In particular the co-authors plan to use a targeted sequencing mechanism to identify and remove the white blood cells infected with the Epstein-Barr virus That would effectively cure lupus he explained That s now the mission of EBVio Inc a privately-held biotech company co-founded by Robinson and two of his Stanford colleagues On Wednesday Robinson commented they did not have immediate plans to take the company society Our goal is to make a good drug Robinson announced We re still pretty early-stage The investigation landed as other scientists advance early research into the application of a cancer recovery to lupus patients In that approach CAR T-cell therapy white blood cells called B cells are removed en masse from the body That could put lupus into remission but at the cost of a weakened immune system according to the Lupus Foundation of America In the Bay Area and Northern California the new research was greeted with gratitude and praise in the neighborhood of people living with lupus or those supporting a family member By tying lupus to the Epstein-Barr virus the Stanford paper represents a transformative moment for millions of people living with this devastating affection reported Thomas Bakewell executive director of the Lupus Foundation of Northern California This finding brings us closer than ever to understanding the why behind lupus and importantly opens the door to new pathways for prevention and cure The possibility of a cure for lupus would truly be amazing mentioned Shauntay Davis-Patterson The Sacramento parent of two adopted boys knows all too well the journey of living with lupus over the class of years Davis-Patterson has contended with joint paint so severe that she couldn t walk hair loss hospitalizations and bouts with chemotherapy Lupus has attacked her kidneys so viciously that she s waiting for a transplant On top of that she s endured the toxic side effects of medication intended to help her Prednisone a steroid improved her features but at the cost of osteoporosis she disclosed We all kind of suffer in silence a lot because people don t understand what we go through declared Davis-Patterson who runs a sponsorship group for lupus patients as part of the lupus foundation Ford also developed osteoporosis a brittleness and weakness in bones because of Prednisone And Plaquenil which eases pain and swelling can cause eye damage in patients who are older or have taken the drug for plenty of years Every six months Ford has a practitioner examine the vitality of her retinas But big picture both women consider themselves fortunate Davis-Patterson mentioned she is grateful she can run after her boys and that she was diagnosed swiftly all those years ago Specific have to deal with the soundness system for years to nail down a evaluation she revealed And Ford is grateful that she s as healthy as she is even after two hip replacements On Thursday she laughed and brushed off talk of her reactions and the pile of pills she has to take every week I m really not that bad she declared I think I m one of the lucky ones really