Our scientific knowledge of pemphigus has dramatically progressed in recent years. However, despite the availability of various therapeutic options for the treatment of inflammatory diseases, only a few multicenter controlled trials have helped to define effective therapies in pemphigus. A…

The risk of death in patients with pemphigusvulgaris has been substantially reduced by treat-     ment with systemic corticosteroids.5 Current therapy consists of high doses of corticosteroids plus   immunosuppressive agents.6 This combination frequently causes long-term immunosuppression,   the consequences of…

Currently, available technologies are limited in their power to characterize autoreactive T cells, which are necessary for the generation of autoantibodies in PV and the development of disease. The research team of the Department of Dermatology at the Weill Medical…

“This new science is forcing the medical community to take more seriously the popular notions of the mind-body connection,” says Esther M. Sternberg, M.D., director of the Integrative Neural Immune Program at the National Institute of Mental Health. In response…

“How are you doing?”  “O.K.” That kind of exchange, which takes place at all too many medical checkups, may sound harmless. But for patients with chronic health problems — arthritis, heart disease, cancer, irritable bowel syndrome, diabetes, attention deficit disorder…

The Unseen Problem With Drugs Judith Graves developed a rare medical condition called jawbone death after taking Fosamax, a drug used by millions of American women with thinning bones. The F.D.A. said the optimal period for using drugs like Fosamax…

Dosage and indication “creep” with the new biologics to treat inflammatory diseases have payers enforcing strict utilization policies. Physicians counter that payers can’t dictate treatment. With even more biologics on the horizon, and drug spend spiralling upward, both sides need…

Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is a prototypical organ-specific autoimmune disease. Autoantibodies unfold their blister-inducing potential by triggering an Fcγ-dependent inflammatory reaction. The study by Iwata et al.  in this issue provides the first direct evidence that IgG autoantibodies from BP patients…

MedWire News: Having a neurological or psychiatric disorder, being bedridden, or being a chronic user of various drugs significantly increases the risk for bullous pemphigoid (BP) in elderly individuals, say researchers. “A rise in the incidence of BP was documented…

Pemphigus vulgaris (PV) is the most severe autoimmune blistering disorder of the skin that is mediated by circulating autoantibodies against desmoglein 3 (Dsg3). It has been reported that in Jews the associated haplotype in PV is human leukocyte antigen (HLA)…