Scleroderma

While many foods taste great, they are also powerful healers in a vibrant multicolor disguise. The best healing remedies also taste fabulous (I can’t say that about any prescription medications). Plus, foods won’t cause the nasty common side effects that most drugs cause.

1. Cherries
Muraleedharan Nair, PhD, professor of natural products and chemistry at Michigan State University, found that tart cherry extract is ten times more

Research shows that a holistic lifestyle is beneficial to those with autoimmune disease. But let’s be honest: it can be difficult for anyone to keep up a perfectly balanced lifestyle — let alone someone with an autoimmune disease. It’s great to take steps to find more balance in your life, but sometimes you need to compromise — and that’s okay! Try using one of these three trade-offs that will help you to compensate when you can’t balance it all.

Stressed? Get your nutrition together!

Every day, your immune system protects you by attacking invaders such as bacteria and viruses. But when something goes awry with the body's immune system, immune cells may attack and damage tissues they were designed to protect, resulting in an autoimmune disease. Either the immune system mistakenly identifies healthy tissue as an invader and attacks it, or the immune system is unable to regulate its response.

About 8 percent of the U.S. population (three-quarters of this group are women

A recent NIH study says more than 32 million people in the United States have autoantibodies, which are proteins produced in the immune system that attack the body's tissues, defining a condition known as autoimmunity. It also looked at the prevalence of the most common type of autoantibody, known as antinuclear antibodies (ANA) and found that the frequency of ANA is highest among women, older individuals, and African-Americans.

A multi-disciplinary team of researchers evaluated blood serum samples using a technique called immunofluorescence to detect ANA in 4,754 individuals from the

Most consumers are familiar with the dangers of disease-causing bacteria; but over the last several decades, medical professionals and lay consumers alike have discovered a host of proven and potential benefits to be had from the consumption of so-called “good” or “friendly” bacteria as well. These helpful microrganisms are referred to as probiotics: and while they are already common as digestive and regulatory aids for improved immunity, current research also suggests that some natural probiotic supplements may help minimize the severity of certain gastrointestinal conditions, autoimmune diseases, infections

1. NCATS: Who moved my cheese?
This year, the National Institutes of Health will establish its new National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), created to speed the translation of basic discoveries into therapies that will improve public health. Solutions can be tough to develop, and tougher to implement.

How will NIH translate its translational focus to its cadre of basic research-focused scientists? Will NCATS strengthen and streamline existing efforts at