Immunology
There are many mediums in which evil spirits may reside (most notably dwellings, persons and computers), each requiring its own specific rite of exorcism. The steps enumerated below deal specifically with human exorcism, or ridding the body of an undesired spirit/demon possession, in the Roman Catholic tradition.
Note: before performing an exorcism, evaluate the subject’s potential for violence (with the strength and malignity of the possession in mind), and restrain accordingly, usually with ropes, straps or duct tape.
Note II: The following ritual may or may not work with computers,…
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HIV/AIDS has been one of the most devastating diseases of the twenty first century. Since the discovery of the HIV virus, our research has demystified the life cycle and actions of the virus, but we have yet to develop a vaccine or adequate long term treatments to the infection.
Treatment options for HIV positive patients are limited. Anti-retroviral drugs have helped to significantly increase the quality of life for patients, but taking the highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) leads to HIV resistance and adaptation, leaving patients unable to control or suppress their viral load.…
Allergies are on the rise and there are a number of theories why. Some speculate that it's due to more parents getting kids tested for allergies; allergists will find allergies thta 40 years ago would have been dismissed as inconveniences. Other speculation is that over-hyped concern about sterility regarding babies has weakened their immune system.
A study conducted in 2008 by the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg says diet may be the culprit.
In Västra Götaland County in western Sweden, half of all teenagers are considered affected by asthma, nasal…
Salmonella typhi, the bacteria that causes typhoid fever, is obviously dangerous, with some 13 million people contracting typhoid fever annually, fatally for 500,000 of them.
Sanitation is the primary cause. For Americans there are under 500 fewer cases per year, most of those coming from visits to Mexico and South America. It is also more common in India, Pakistan, and Egypt.
Traditional methods for identifying and measuring micro organisms require one or two days' analysis but a research group from the Rovira i Virgili University (URV) in Tarragona has developed a…
An international team has sequenced the genome of Schistosoma mansoni, a parasite that infects 200 million people in 76 countries through freshwater snails.
The US is not one of the affected countries because we don't have the snails that carry the Schistosoma mansoni parasite, though Americans at risk include those traveling in the Peace Corps, on business or for church missions. The new research is the largest genome sequencing of a parasite to date.
Knowing the genetic codes of Schistosoma mansoni will help researchers develop better medication for infections, a…
The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine is a contentious debate. A large pharmaceutical company with budget to spend can't usually find a friend in science but even with vague benefit it's difficult to argue against protecting children or opening debate about the value of all vaccines by being critical of one.
It takes more than politics and marketing to convince physicians, though. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends the human papillomavirus vaccination even for 11- and 12-year-old girls who face little risk and will likely have to pay to take it…
Researchers believe they have located the original source of malignant malaria; a parasite in chimpanzees of equatorial Africa.
The biologists think the deadly parasite was transmitted to humans from chimpanzees perhaps as recently as 5,000 years ago and possibly through a single mosquito, according to their genetic analysis.
Malaria sickens about 500 million people and kills about 1.5 million each year so any data that may lead to a vaccine is good news. It also furthers understanding of how infectious diseases such as HIV, SARS, and avian and swine flu can be transmitted to…
Don't chew someone else's food if you have HIV or AIDS? Sure, that sounds like common sense but lots of things that seem like common sense to some are abstract to others - try explaining geodesics, Euclidean geometry and spacetime to people who just need a gas station and want to know the quickest route.
But science does studies so common sense can be science rather than urban myth so researchers have verified cases in which HIV was almost certainly transmitted from mothers to children through pre-chewed food.
As you might expect, the source of HIV in the pre-chewed food was most…
As part of their series about the cultural response toward an H1N1 flu outbreak, the Harvard Opinion Research Program is releasing a national poll that focuses on Americans' views and concerns about the potential for a more severe outbreak of Influenza A H1N1 (Swine Flu) in the fall or winter. The polling was done June 22-28, 2009.
Approximately six in ten Americans (59%) believe it is very or somewhat likely that there will be widespread cases of Influenza A (H1N1) with people getting very sick this coming fall or winter. Parents are more likely than people without children to believe…
The current H1N1 influenza A swine flu strain has genetic roots in an illness that sickened pigs at the 1918 Cedar Rapids Swine Show in Iowa, report infectious disease experts at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health in the New England Journal of Medicine. Their paper, published online today, describes H1N1's nearly century-long and often convoluted journey, which may include the accidental resurrection of an extinct strain.
"At the same time the 1918 flu pandemic was rapidly spreading among humans, pigs were hit with a respiratory illness that closely resembled…