#Autoimmune Disease in Children

[ankurahospitalvijayawada]

Top 10 Signs of Autoimmune Disease in Children

Parents try to keep their children away from any harm coming their way. They constantly monitor their growth and development and watch for signs of illness. However, there are a few diseases in children that they find very hard to diagnose. One of these is autoimmune disease, entailing a group of intricate disorders whereby the body’s immunity stages an attack against a number of healthy cells, tissues, and organs of the body.

Autoimmune Disease in Children

When the immune system begins to attack the body’s healthy cells, tissues, and organs, results in development of autoimmune (rheumatic) disorders.

Even though autoimmune diseases are typically linked to adults, parents should be aware that children can also be affected by similar conditions, which tend to be much severe in kids. This group of diseases is often challenging to diagnose and difficult to treat in children .

The common autoimmune diseases affecting children include various subtypes of juvenile idiopathic arthritis, or JIA, a type of arthritis that lasts at least six weeks in children under the age of sixteen years; connective tissue disorders like systemic lupus erythematosus, dermatomyositis, vasculitis disorders like Kawasaki disease and Henoch schonlein purpura

Autoimmune diseases can cause problem in a single specific organ and cause organ-specific diseases (also known as localized) like liver and skin. However, most rheumatological diseases cause systemic involvement i.e., problems throughout the body. For example

-Juvenile idiopathic arthritis affects the skin, eyes, blood, and other organs like lung in addition to the joints

-Juvenile dermatomyositis affects the muscles and skin

– Lupus causes multiorgan involvement:, kidneys, joints, skin, heart, brain, liver

Top 10 Signs of Autoimmune Disease in Children

Fever – prolonged or recurrent

Pain, swelling, and stiffness in the joints

Limping of child

Weakness and pain in muscle

Loss or brittleness of hair

Skin rashes – butterfly shape across the cheeks, rash on eyelids, elbows, salmon pink rash on trunk, psoriasis , etc

Loss of weight without an apparent reason

Ongoing fatigues for which a cause cannot be identified

Poor growth

Swollen lymph glands

Enlarged liver and spleen

Redness of eyes, decrease in vision- uveitis

Changes in behavior and mood

Multiorgan involvement

What Causes Autoimmune Disease?

Unknown is the precise cause behind some children’s immune systems attacking their own bodies. We do know that there is no known etiology of autoimmune disorders, and they are not communicable. Scientists, on the other hand, think that a few steps are involved:

Heredity: Some children are susceptible to an autoimmune disease due to specific genes that are inherited from their parents.

Environmental factors: Unless an infection, exposure to sun, or other trigger occurs, an autoimmune disease may not manifest itself first.

Hormonal factors: Since many autoimmune disorders affect young women and girls in their adolescence, female hormones may also be involved in the onset of many diseases.

How are autoimmune diseases diagnosed?

Pediatricians have unique challenges while dealing with autoimmune disorders. Fever and fatigue are two of the first symptoms that are often generic, meaning they can occur in a wide range of conditions. Many times, symptoms come and go. A single autoimmune disease may present differently in each individual or might possess characteristics with several autoimmune disorders.

A pediatric rheumatologist will first do a comprehensive physical examination and review your child’s whole medical history, including any family history of autoimmune disease. The physician might suggest further lab tests to obtain more details if they suspect an autoimmune condition.

Complete blood count” (CBC) refers to a group of laboratory tests used to determine the size, quantity, and maturity of various blood cells in a given volume of blood.

The liver produces a unique protein, which is measured by the C-reactive protein (CRP). When there is significant inflammation, such as that observed in autoimmune diseases, anywhere in the body, CRP levels usually rise. The initial CBC, ESR AND CRP give a clue towards provisional diagnosis. Further testing on specific tests might be needed in symptoms

The immune system produces abnormal proteins, when it attacks its own tissues. Antinuclear antibody (ANA) and Rheumatoid factor (RF) are one among those.

In order to rule out conditions like infections, tumors, and fractures, the doctor might also choose to examine your child’s organs and tissues more closely. Imaging tests like Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasound will be needed.

Sometimes, in order to diagnose the illness or obtain an indication of how it is developing, your child’s physician will actually take a sample of your child’s tissues, a procedure known as a biopsy.

How are Autoimmune Diseases Treated?

Pediatric rheumatologists are often the primary carers for patients with autoimmune diseases. The care of your child may involve other experts such as a dermatologist (skin), hepatologist (liver), and a nephrologist (kidneys), depending on which tissues or organs are affected. Most autoimmune disorders have no known cure, clinicians strive to do much more than simply treat your child’s symptoms can be well controlled with proper treatment and can lead a normal life.

Your doctor will prescribe medications that combat the damaging inflammation brought on by an autoimmune attack by controlling the immune system.

[declaweddisabledpurebred]

Bowie & Xander [Original Post]

Bowie: Senior (16 Years) | Spayed Female | Domestic Longhair

Xander: Senior (13 Years) | Neutered Male | Domestic Shorthair

Bowie and Xander are a bonded pair and must be adopted together.

Bowie and Xander would do best in a home without small children.

Xander has a history of urinary obstruction and is on a canned food only diet.

Xander has chronic pancreatitis but no recent flare-up’s.

Bowie has an autoimmune condition called pemphigus foliaceous and is on medication daily.

Available In: Edmonton, Alberta (Canada) [ARTS Senior Animal Rescue]

Meeko & Marge [Original Post]

Meeko: Senior (15 Years) | Neutered Male | Domestic Shorthair

Marge: Senior (10 Years) | Spayed Female | Domestic Shorthair

Meeko and Marge are a bonded pair and must be adopted together.

Meeko has renal disease (stage 2).

Marge is overweight and is on a weight loss diet.

Meeko & Marge would do best in a home without dogs.

Available In: Calgary, Alberta (Canada) [ARTS Senior Animal Rescue]

Posted on March 27th 2024

[thequeerlibrarian]

JOMP Challenge | November 15 | disabled character

English: Lotta and the Crumbs: A Gluten-Free Adventure

This is a beautiful children's book about the autoimmune disorder coeliac disease, my colleague bought it for my library and I actually cried reading it, seeing the representation for the first time in a children's book

[agreenroad]

Not One of the 72 Vaccines Mandated for Children Has Ever Been Safety Tested, Nor For Carcinogenesis, Mutagenesis, Or Fertility Effects

tinyurl.com/readtheinserts FDA approve COVID Vaccine for 6-month-old Babies despite Data proving Vaccinated Children are 30,200%/303x more likely to die than Unvaccinated Children – The Expose RFK JR; NOT ONE OF THE 72 VACCINES MANDATED FOR CHILDREN HAS EVER BEEN TESTED FOR SAFETY Wide Awake Media @wideawake_media Having been called a liar by Anthony Fauci for saying that “not one of the 72…

[jcmarchi]

New technique reveals how gene transcription is coordinated in cells

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/new-technique-reveals-how-gene-transcription-is-coordinated-in-cells/

New technique reveals how gene transcription is coordinated in cells

The human genome contains about 23,000 genes, but only a fraction of those genes are turned on inside a cell at any given time. The complex network of regulatory elements that controls gene expression includes regions of the genome called enhancers, which are often located far from the genes that they regulate.

This distance can make it difficult to map the complex interactions between genes and enhancers. To overcome that, MIT researchers have invented a new technique that allows them to observe the timing of gene and enhancer activation in a cell. When a gene is turned on around the same time as a particular enhancer, it strongly suggests the enhancer is controlling that gene.

Learning more about which enhancers control which genes, in different types of cells, could help researchers identify potential drug targets for genetic disorders. Genomic studies have identified mutations in many non-protein-coding regions that are linked to a variety of diseases. Could these be unknown enhancers?

“When people start using genetic technology to identify regions of chromosomes that have disease information, most of those sites don’t correspond to genes. We suspect they correspond to these enhancers, which can be quite distant from a promoter, so it’s very important to be able to identify these enhancers,” says Phillip Sharp, an MIT Institute Professor Emeritus and member of MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research.

Sharp is the senior author of the new study, which appears today in Nature. MIT Research Assistant D.B. Jay Mahat is the lead author of the paper.

Hunting for eRNA

Less than 2 percent of the human genome consists of protein-coding genes. The rest of the genome includes many elements that control when and how those genes are expressed. Enhancers, which are thought to turn genes on by coming into physical contact with gene promoter regions through transiently forming a complex, were discovered about 45 years ago.

More recently, in 2010, researchers discovered that these enhancers are transcribed into RNA molecules, known as enhancer RNA or eRNA. Scientists suspect that this transcription occurs when the enhancers are actively interacting with their target genes. This raised the possibility that measuring eRNA transcription levels could help researchers determine when an enhancer is active, as well as which genes it’s targeting.

“That information is extraordinarily important in understanding how development occurs, and in understanding how cancers change their regulatory programs and activate processes that lead to de-differentiation and metastatic growth,” Mahat says.

However, this kind of mapping has proven difficult to perform because eRNA is produced in very small quantities and does not last long in the cell. Additionally, eRNA lacks a modification known as a poly-A tail, which is the “hook” that most techniques use to pull RNA out of a cell.

One way to capture eRNA is to add a nucleotide to cells that halts transcription when incorporated into RNA. These nucleotides also contain a tag called biotin that can be used to fish the RNA out of a cell. However, this current technique only works on large pools of cells and doesn’t give information about individual cells.

While brainstorming ideas for new ways to capture eRNA, Mahat and Sharp considered using click chemistry, a technique that can be used to join two molecules together if they are each tagged with “click handles” that can react together.

The researchers designed nucleotides labeled with one click handle, and once these nucleotides are incorporated into growing eRNA strands, the strands can be fished out with a tag containing the complementary handle. This allowed the researchers to capture eRNA and then purify, amplify, and sequence it. Some RNA is lost at each step, but Mahat estimates that they can successfully pull out about 10 percent of the eRNA from a given cell.

Using this technique, the researchers obtained a snapshot of the enhancers and genes that are being actively transcribed at a given time in a cell.

“You want to be able to determine, in every cell, the activation of transcription from regulatory elements and from their corresponding gene. And this has to be done in a single cell because that’s where you can detect synchrony or asynchrony between regulatory elements and genes,” Mahat says.

Timing of gene expression

Demonstrating their technique in mouse embryonic stem cells, the researchers found that they could calculate approximately when a particular region starts to be transcribed, based on the length of the RNA strand and the speed of the polymerase (the enzyme responsible for transcription) — that is, how far the polymerase transcribes per second. This allowed them to determine which genes and enhancers were being transcribed around the same time.

The researchers used this approach to determine the timing of the expression of cell cycle genes in more detail than has previously been possible. They were also able to confirm several sets of known gene-enhancer pairs and generated a list of about 50,000 possible enhancer-gene pairs that they can now try to verify.

Learning which enhancers control which genes would prove valuable in developing new treatments for diseases with a genetic basis. Last year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first gene therapy treatment for sickle cell anemia, which works by interfering with an enhancer that results in activation of a fetal globin gene, reducing the production of sickled blood cells.

The MIT team is now applying this approach to other types of cells, with a focus on autoimmune diseases. Working with researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital, they are exploring immune cell mutations that have been linked to lupus, many of which are found in non-coding regions of the genome.

“It’s not clear which genes are affected by these mutations, so we are beginning to tease apart the genes these putative enhancers might be regulating, and in what cell types these enhancers are active,” Mahat says. “This is a tool for creating gene-to-enhancer maps, which are fundamental in understanding the biology, and also a foundation for understanding disease.”

The findings of this study also offer evidence for a theory that Sharp has recently developed, along with MIT professors Richard Young and Arup Chakraborty, that gene transcription is controlled by membraneless droplets known as condensates. These condensates are made of large clusters of enzymes and RNA, which Sharp suggests may include eRNA produced at enhancer sites.

“We picture that the communication between an enhancer and a promoter is a condensate-type, transient structure, and RNA is part of that. This is an important piece of work in building the understanding of how RNAs from enhancers could be active,” he says.

The research was funded by the National Cancer Institute, the National Institutes of Health, and the Emerald Foundation Postdoctoral Transition Award. 

[theonlyladyt]

Low Carb vs Insulin Sensitivity

Hello my lovelies I am having an autoimmune flare presently and this has triggered the symptoms of Reactive Hypoglycemia (RH for short) as well. So it took several days before I could continue this blog post today. The flare I think was on its way a few days ago as I started waking up more than usual. My blood glucose which was fairly stable, started waking me up with autoimmune symptoms and…

[wellhealthhub]

Understanding Diabetes: Comprehensive Overview of Types, Symptoms, and Management

Diabetes, an intricate and enduring medical condition affecting millions across the globe, arises from the abnormal accumulation of glucose (sugar) in the bloodstream, a result of either insufficient insulin production or the body’s impaired ability to use insulin effectively. This metabolic imbalance triggers a myriad of health complications, warranting an in-depth exploration and profound…

[frankpunisher]

i Hate my mother for having children

[afeelgoodblog]

The Best News of Last Week - March 18

1. FDA to Finally Outlaw Soda Ingredient Prohibited Around The World

An ingredient once commonly used in citrus-flavored sodas to keep the tangy taste mixed thoroughly through the beverage could finally be banned for good across the US. BVO, or brominated vegetable oil, is already banned in many countries, including India, Japan, and nations of the European Union, and was outlawed in the state of California in October 2022.

2. AI makes breakthrough discovery in battle to cure prostate cancer

Scientists have used AI to reveal a new form of aggressive prostate cancer which could revolutionise how the disease is diagnosed and treated.

A Cancer Research UK-funded study found prostate cancer, which affects one in eight men in their lifetime, includes two subtypes. It is hoped the findings could save thousands of lives in future and revolutionise how the cancer is diagnosed and treated.

3. “Inverse vaccine” shows potential to treat multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune diseases

A new type of vaccine developed by researchers at the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME) has shown in the lab setting that it can completely reverse autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis and type 1 diabetes — all without shutting down the rest of the immune system.

4. Paris 2024 Olympics makes history with unprecedented full gender parity

In a historic move, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has distributed equal quotas for female and male athletes for the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris 2024. It is the first time The Olympics will have full gender parity and is a significant milestone in the pursuit of equal representation and opportunities for women in sports.

Biased media coverage lead girls and boys to abandon sports.

5. Restored coral reefs can grow as fast as healthy reefs in just 4 years, new research shows

Planting new coral in degraded reefs can lead to rapid recovery – with restored reefs growing as fast as healthy reefs after just four years. Researchers studied these reefs to assess whether coral restoration can bring back the important ecosystem functions of a healthy reef.

“The speed of recovery we saw is incredible,” said lead author Dr Ines Lange, from the University of Exeter.

6. EU regulators pass the planet's first sweeping AI regulations

The EU is banning practices that it believes will threaten citizens' rights. "Biometric categorization systems based on sensitive characteristics" will be outlawed, as will the "untargeted scraping" of images of faces from CCTV footage and the web to create facial recognition databases.

Other applications that will be banned include social scoring; emotion recognition in schools and workplaces; and "AI that manipulates human behavior or exploits people’s vulnerabilities."

7. Global child deaths reach historic low in 2022 – UN report

The number of children who died before their fifth birthday has reached a historic low, dropping to 4.9 million in 2022.

The report reveals that more children are surviving today than ever before, with the global under-5 mortality rate declining by 51 per cent since 2000.

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That's it for this week :)

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[jinnie-ret]

placebo

stray kids x hybrid!ninth!reader (fem)

genre: light angst, mostly fluffy

content warnings: small swearing, mention of disease, mention of vaccination

word count: 1.8k

summary: the boys are shocked at how your hybrid features present themselves when you are feeling particularly emotional

requested: @shua-f4lmings

1K FOLLOWERS PLAYLIST 💚🖤

MAIN MASTERLIST

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How could it ever work being a Kpop idol when you were forced to hide a part of our identity every day? Well, you managed somehow. Despite the fact that you were a hybrid, JYPE still accepted your audition and allowed you to become a trainee. You felt fortunate that you didn't face direct discrimination from the company, considering you were part of a rare few, an experimental collective, of children that had turned into hybrids against their will. You see, there had once been terrible news of a new outbreak of an autoimmune disease breaking out, during your childhood, so when a vaccination was created, your parents had rushed at the opportunity to make sure you were safe. Little did you know, did anyone know, that it was in fact a scam. The disease - a hoax. The vaccination - contained a serum that caused you to experience genetic mutations and develop physical attributes very similar to a cat, all because of some deceiving scientists that wanted to experiment.

Luckily, you had learnt to love yourself and your feline features. Your fluffy black ears that helped your hearing become more sensitive, and perhaps even more attuned to music, your tail that would swish and perk up anytime you saw your members or somebody you loved, these all became things that you appreciated. It truly showed your strength and determination to not let anybody get you down, particularly when you used to feel like the black sheep, or, black cat, of the family.

You remember that it was not too long after Chan had gathered you all together as a unit, pre-debut, that you decided to reveal this side of you. After all, you could only wear baggy sweatshirts and beanies for so long.

"Guys, can I tell you something?" you spoke up after you were all sat evaluating a dance practice.

"I think we really should practice this dance again, can it wait?" Chan pondered, not wanting to miss any rehearsal time, especially since the new TV debut show was on the horizon.

"Please, it's important," you had urged them all, your future group members, not wanting to withheld this information from them for any longer.

"Ok, sure," Chan nodded and turned his phone off, before everyone was looking at you as you stood up.

"Is everything ok?" Hyunjin frowned.

"Yeah, I just want to share this side of myself to you. I've not been honest," you began, confident in yourself, just unsure about what their reactions would be.

"If we're going to be a group..." Changbin tilted his head.

"-that's why I'm telling you now! Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you. Umm," you apologised, feeling guilty.

"It's ok," Changbin nodded, seeing the weight of the situation in your eyes.

"Please can you just tell us? The suspense is killing me," Jisung groaned, whining after when Minho smacked him on the back without even looking.

"I don't know how to say it so..." you had taken a deep breath before pulling your beanie off, ruffling your hair back into plsce and ultimately revealing your ears. It had seemed like some sort of headband at first, but seeing the way your ears twitched and pointed at sharp intakes of breath or gasps in the room, showed that they were very real.

Poor Felix was incredibly confused. It was hard enough for the Australian boy to follow the conversation, and even harder to make sense of things as he saw your fluffy cat ears on top of your head.

"What the-" Jeongin's jaw dropped.

"Why are your ears moving like that..." Seungmin was astonished.

"I'm a cat hybrid. There was an experiment gone wrong a while back, masked as a 'cure', a vaccination, when really it was an experiment. So, umm, yeah, I'm sort of like a test subject.." you trailed off as Chan came to stand in front of you, raising his hand slightly.

"Can I touch your ears?" he questioned, which honestly wasn't what you were expecting. Instead, you thought it was time for him to go into his words of wisdom mode, but really even he couldn't avoid his own curiosity, as he waited for your response.

"Oh, yeah sure," you shrugged, a smile working it's way into your face as you felt a soothing scratch and pat to the head. It was so relaxing that you shut your eyes for a moment.

And when you opened your eyes...

"My turn! My turn!" Han was suddenly in front of you, Seungmin and Jeongin surprisingly waiting too.

"Wow, so cute!" Hyunjin was looking at you with the biggest heart eyes, and you could also lightly hear Chan explaining to Felix what had just transpired.

"Cute, haha," Changbin chuckled, stood next to you and observing your reactions.

"So you guys don't find it weird then?" you laugh as you ask, knowing that they were entranced.

"No! Never!" Seungmin shook his head.

"Me?" Felix came up behind Seungmin, half hugging his arm before asking permission to also pet your ears.

"Yes," you smiled reassuringly at the shy Felix.

The only one of the boys who hadn't interacted with you after you revealed your big secret was Minho, and perhaps that was because he simply couldn't comprehend that his fellow band member he had naturally grown protective over was also part cat. His favourite animal by a mile.

"I knew there was something feline about you," Minho hugged you tightly, the only one not to go straight for the ears.

"That's all the approval I needed."

Post revelation, you were able to feel even more relaxed around your members at the dorms, and wow, when they saw your tail, to be frank, they lost their shit. That was a story for another day though. You had more important things to think about them, such as the meeting that had been scheduled with the company before filming began. Understandably, in your opinion, they had found some medication, hybrid suppressants, that would hide your features. Some people would have been offended by the gesture but in reality, you were relieved. You just wanted to debut and you didn't want to take any attention away from the boys with your obvious differences in genetics. Although the first day of taking the pills felt rough, especially with your body having to withdraw physical features, you went through with it, initially explaining to the boys that it's what you wanted. Whether they believed you or not at the time, you weren't sure, until today...

"No way!" you gasped, clutching the blanket for dear life as you sat up from your comfy spot curled up on the sofa. Once again, you had chosen to use your vacation off from work as a chance to binge watch your favourite show, and finally, you had made it to the end.

"Don't roll credits, don't roll credits, don't- NO!" you cried out in disbelief. As if they had just killed off your favourite character. You sobbed, curling into yourself, ears flat against your head and tail curled up against you, like you were trying to protect yourself from the TV screen even though you had already turned it off and thrown the remote away from you in distress.

You hadn't realised that your hybrid features had popped out, not that it would be a problem as you were on break, but you must have forgotten to habitually take your tablets, the ones you bad taken the previous day finally wearing off. Even with the box being on the coffee table in front of you, the idea had left your mind.

It was long forgotten now.

It was a pitiful sight, the way you were trembling as you cried, but with your physical hybrid features also came mental ones, emotional ones, instincts that you couldn't help but follow. That emotional attachment that cats found with their people, happened to you and your favourite TV show. You felt hurt, betrayed, distraught.

"Rori?" Minho was the first to call out in concern, as the boys piled in from their outing at the beach. Yes, Rori, that was your stage name. It was a running joke between you all that Minho adopted Dori and her namesake was because of you. They weren't that dissimilar right?

"What's wrong? What's happening?" Felix called out in confusion, still taking off his sandy shoes by the front door. The boys had wanted you to come along with them, but you hated water, and would much rather laze around in the comfort of your own home.

"Aigoo, your tail is all fluffy," Jeongin patted your head, yet you continued to cry. The eight boys looked between each other in confusion until Jisung spotted the medication on the table and looked at Chan pointedly, hoping he took would connect the dots he had just found.

"Oh, Rori, we thought you didn't like taking the, it's ok. It'll be ok, we'll sort this," Chan rubbed your back gently.

"We can announce it to the fans," Hyunjin suggested, and the others nodded along.

"We'll have a word with the company," Changbin added, their plan already formulating before your very eyes.

"They'll still love you," Jisung didn't like seeing you cry.

"They won't care, you're still the same person," Seungmin spoke up, last to enter the room. He had soon caught onto the situation though, only after rinsing his feet from the sand that lingered. He couldn't barely the itchy feeling.

"What are you talking about?" you sniffled, lifting your head out from your arms and your ears lifted in curiosity.

"Aren't you sad because of, you know, having to take the tablets...?" Chan was confused, so much so that his hand had even stopped it's comforting motions on your back.

"No!!" you cried out, tail fluffing up even more, irritation flaring up ever so slightly as you wished you didn't have to explain yourself. It would much easier if these humans just knew what you wanted!

"Oh," Minho pursed his lips in thought.

"Then what's wrong?" Jeongin urged, eager to hear what was truly wrong.

"-died! It's not fair! They were my favourite and they were so kind and-" you whimpered tearfully, already having flashbacks of the final episode you and just watched.

"It's because of a show?!" Felix rose his eyebrows in surprise, leaning back to try and see your whole face.

"Really?" Seungmin sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"It's not just a show!!!" you wailed louder, tail swishing now as you felt a mix of sadness and annoyance.

"Ok it's not just a show, we know that, chill, kitty," Jisung patted your head but Minho nudged him warningly, knowing you didn't like that nickname.

"Ji-" you huffed.

"But it's definitely not because of the suppressants, right?" Changbin cut you off, which was annoying at first, having being interrupted twice in a row, yet you were appreciative of the change in topic.

"No, no, I don't care about taking them. I'm fine with that," you took a deep breath and wiped your remaining tears away, "I just might need 2-3 business days to recover."

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tagged: @skz-streamer @kiraisastay @kpopmenace143 @haodore @arloo00 @dunno-wut-to-do @splat00z @his-angell @2minstan @skzoologist @lovingchan @atinyniki @writingforstraykids @lilmisssona @astraysimp @lixie-phoria @theo4eve @linoalwaysknows @royal-shinigami @jolly04 @turtledove824 @yangbbokari @thisrandomgoofy15 @lieslab @hannamoon143 @arumlilyeclipse

[omenfailure]

Morgott and Symbolism of Leprosy

Foreword, I’m not familiar with writing long texts and analysis in English. Please keep that in mind regarding poor formulation or grammar. Thanks!

Leprosy

Leprosy, or Hansen’s disease, is a contagious autoimmune infection. It is often characterized by rashes, hypoalgesia (decreased sensitivity to pain) and visible lumps on your skin, or nodules. Someone who’s suffering from leprosy is commonly referred to as “lepers.” Leprosy usually stems from poverty and closeness to infected people.

The disease has been around for millennia and has been generously documented in the Bible. They have always been heavily stigmatized for being a curse caused by the lepers' sins.

Leviticus 13:2-3

“When anyone has a swelling or a rash or a shiny spot on their skin that may be a defiling skin disease, they must be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons, who is a priest [...] “When the priest examines that person, he shall pronounce them ceremonially unclean.”

The leper was prohibited from being around 50 paces (125 feet/38 meters) of another person, including family. 

Numbers 5:2

“Command the people of Israel that they put out of the camp everyone who is leprous or has a discharge and everyone who is unclean through contact with the dead.”

Leviticus 13:45

"The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’”

The leper was forced to wear a branded sackcloth, rags, a cross and a bell they rang when approaching people. They were obligated to announce their presence to warn townsfolk. They were often veiled due to their deformities and were depicted wearing hats in art. Unrelated to leprosy, but Cesare Borgia was forced to wear a mask when his face was disfigured by syphilis.

The Fell design

Starting with Morgott’s design, there are correlations to medieval leper attire. Wearing rags, commonly depicted with a staff and shrouding their face.

I will be using references from the lovely Tarnussy who made a fantastic reference masterpost for Morgott.

Morgott is wearing rags tied together with a loose rope around his neck (which is sinister.) It has two knots, which is something prominent in the twin's designs. He has a big, loose hood as well. Though unable to by his horns, you can hide your face with them. Despite being a descendant of Godfrey and Marika, he hides in rags he similarly wore as a shunned child. He possesses similarities to both of his parents, Godfrey's white hair, big nose, and Marika’s first letter. 

All of the Demigods have names that start with either of their parent's initials, as well as hair color. Radagon’s and Rennala’s children’s names start with R, Malenia and Miquella starting with M, while Malenia has Radagon’s red hair, etc.

Morgott (and Mohg) having the same naming convention as their mother instead of his father is a peculiar choice, which begs the question of what qualities relate to which parent or if it’s coincidental. Perhaps there was a motherly bond initially, but I digress.

Credit to Tarnussy for both screenshots

Morgott has a lot of hair. His head hair is quite thick, and while it might be a reach, I’d argue the partial idea is to hide his face with his growing beard(?). Considering the length of it I imagine there was a need to trim parts of it for battle. And get this man some Calvin Klein boxers.

He also wanders with his cane, which lepers were portrayed as having. Hiding his Accursed Sword within. It was a tactical decision to hide it, as he recanted the belief of the accursed blood or Blood Oath. He only wields it when necessary, as a last resort. Allowing himself to be him, despite being riddled with guilt and shame until his last moment.

“People scrambling to get away from a person with leprosy” by R. Cooper, 1912 (?)

Lastly, a direct hint towards the visual symptoms of leprosy is his nose. He has a big nose with visible bumps along the edges of his alar cartilage and fibrofatty tissue. His nose has a blue hue, highlighting it against his grayish-brown face. Nodules and pustules are common in leprosy, it has similarities to rhinophyma (a skin condition, unrelated to leprosy.)

He looks like a sopping wet dog

Identity of the Fell

The main theme of Morgott is the cycle of shame and stigmatization. There are different ways to interpret it, but that’s the gist of it. He’s the opposite of Mohg, sticking by the fundamentalist Order rather than freeing himself. He carries a lot of guilt and shame, remaining loyal to the Order that wants him dead. He’s very insistent on being cursed, very.

Remembrance of the Omen King.

“Though born one of the graceless Omen, Morgott took it upon himself to become the Erdtree's protector. He loved not in return, for he was never loved, but nevertheless, love it he did.”

Phase two transition, during his fight in Leyndell.

“The thrones...stained by my curse... Such shame I cannot bear. Thy part in this shall not be forgiven.”

Phase two, player kill.

“May the curse seep to thy very soul.”

He’s ashamed of his affliction, his curse of being an Omen. He protects and guards the Erdtree, the resting place of his imprisoned mother. 

He’s ashamed of his affliction, the curse of being an Omen, something he could not choose. He protects and guards the Erdtree, the resting place of his imprisoned mother, who harbored hate towards the Hornsent.

He spent most of his life in the Shunning-Grounds, akin to a leprosarium (leprosy colony) for the twins. They could interact without risking public outrage. Being bound to the sewers was a privilege, as only Omen royals were hidden from the dangerous world. I digress. It instilled the belief that he bore an unrelenting curse, never to be freed from it. The thoughts of guilt began early.

He is the rightful Lord of Leyndell, earning the nickname as the Veiled Monarch. No one knew of his identity or the fact he was an Omen. During the Second Defense of Leyndell he fought as Margit, the Fell. A ferocious warrior, he infused fear within those wandering outside the outer walls, taking the shape of a scrawny Commoner.

There is likely more to be said that I can’t think of right now. I’ll likely update the post with an update. I find the Omen twins very fascinating in how they contrast the others in belief, design, and identity. They’re reminiscent of the Protestant and Catholic faith, although not fully.

TL;DR: I may or may not like Morgott. Thanks for reading!

Here’s some sources, I have like 100 tabs open so it’s not all. https://www.news-medical.net/health/Leprosy-Stigma.aspxhttps://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-leprosy.html + https://www.bibleref.com/https://www.1177.se/sjukdomar--besvar/skelett-leder-och-muskler/leder/sle/

Art, some I can’t source due to their age. https://wellcomecollection.org/works/akr8427s + https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Tennant_Cooper 

[soath]

Apropos of absolutely nothing at all, oral and throat cancers from HPV don’t only occur in guys; anyone who engages in oral sex should be on the lookout for them! Symptoms include sudden loss of taste, swelling, numbness, a persistent sore throat, and pain. HPV can also cause cancers of the phallus, vulva, and anus. Because it’s a viral related cancer it can be especially dangerous for those with immune conditions, including HIV or some autoimmune diseases treated with immunosuppressants.

However the HPV vaccine is effective at preventing all of these cancers. In countries with high uptake many forms of cervical cancers have vanished among young people. The vaccine is most effective for younger children between 10-13 so if you have kids, siblings, nieces or nephews, push for them to get it! It’s also now recommended for adults up to middle aged. Even if you’ve already contracted one HPV strain, the vaccine may still be helpful. Although there’s increasing evidence of efficacy at just one dose, it’s most effective if you get all three in the series so don’t wait.

And if you’re eligible for Pap smears, get them. They might not be comfortable but they are one of the most effective medical tests invented in the twentieth century.

[echo-bleu]

Psst what if Caranthir’s “red face” is from a lupus butterfly rash?

HELL YES anon I see your vision

Disabled Tolkien characters series

Assorted headcanons under the cut:

Elves, especially in the Years of the Trees where their conception of disability is... nearly non-existent (I have loads of headcanons about that and I'm writing a whole fic) don't really know about the immune system and autoimmune diseases.

Caranthir starts having symptoms very early in childhood, at first mostly anaemia and some joint pain, and skin issues. His butterfly rash is near-constant, though much worse during flares. Nobody flags this as a single issue, especially since he's also having other troubles (he's autistic, and he has pretty severe IBS-like symptoms).

Celegorm (starting to show symptoms of EDS, which they do know of because Míriel had it first) and Curufin (much more visibly/loudly autistic) are both a good deal more worrying to Fëanor and Nerdanel at that point, so Caranthir's issues tend to be, if not swept under the rug, at least not truly addressed. The parents are doing their best, but raising seven children is a lot, and Caranthir unfortunately gets all the Middle Child Syndrome.

(though in the Shibboleth, it's mentioned that Nerdanel named him Carnistir because he "had the ruddy complexion of his mother." Nerdanel with lupus, anyone?)

Once he's an adult, the symptom that bothers him the most is joint pain in his hands. His craft and his interests are in books, both writing them (he's a historian and economist) and bookbinding. He needs his hands.

Caranthir and Celegorm, because of their otherwise rocky relationship, swing wildly between curling up together for comfort and warmth during flares and shouting at each other because pain makes them both extremely bad-tempered.

The facial rash/lesions remains Caranthir's most visible symptom, and in a society where everyone is beautiful (especially his family), it's not an easy burden. Someone else made a wonderful post about this that I'll just link, rather than paraphrase.

[feminist-space]

"“It’s not your fault,” I told 16-year-old Cara, whose mother died of a SARS-CoV-2 infection [Cara] gave her. To be clear, the doctor confirmed Cara (not her real name) had passed on the virus and Covid was entered on the death certificate as the cause of death.

Cara’s mother had not been outside their home in the weeks preceding her death.

When masks were dropped in the “Omicron’s mild” phase of the pandemic, Cara continued as the lone masker at school to protect her immunocompromised mother, who was undergoing chemotherapy. It was tolerable until a child psychotherapist said on the national airwaves that some girls would continue to mask anyway “to hide their acne”.

His words were used to bully her. Cara left, but without support from teachers she strugg­led. Her parents pleaded with the school to use the Hepa filter they bought. The school refused.

Cara eventually returned to school unmasked, caught Covid and infected her mam. It killed her. Cara self-harms because she blames herself. She hasn’t been to school since.

Research shows that more than 70pc of Sars-CoV-2 transmission in households started with a child.

The incidence was highest during unmitigat­ed in-person schooling. In a recent paper, Dr Pantea Javidan, of Stanford’s Centre for Human Rights, described the ways children’s rights to life, health and safety during the ongoing pandemic have been falsely rendered oppositional to education and development.

Methods used to manufacture consent to forcibly, repeatedly infect children, according to Dr Javidan, include minimising harms to children (“kids don’t get it or spread it”, “it’s mild”) and moral panic around mental health and educational attainment.

Regarding mental health, in August a study looking at paediatric psychiatric emergencies found school openings – not lockdowns – were associated with an increase in the number of emergency psychiatric visits.

In May, a study found that children with and without congenital heart defects showed increased risks for a variety of cardiovascular outcomes (including cardiac arrest, clots, palpitations) after Sars-CoV-2 infection.

In July, a study found that children and teenagers experienced cognitive impairment 12 months post-Covid infection, consistently correlated with poorer sleep and behavioural and emotional functioning.

Last month alone, several studies were published documenting Covid paediatric harms.

One found that children and adolescents experience prolonged symptoms post-Sars-CoV-2 infection in almost every organ system.

Study co-author Professor Lawrence C Kleinman said: “We have convincing evidence that Covid is not just a mild, benign illness for children. This is a new chronic illness in children. We need to be prepared to deal with it for a generation.”

Another study analysing paediatric and adult hospitalisations found teenagers were at greatest risk of severe disease among all children. Yet another study showed compelling connections between viral infection and subsequent autoimmune disease. Early in the pandemic, some children showed negligible Covid symptoms, only to later develop organ failure.

Researchers found the children’s immune systems had latched on to a part of the coronavirus that closely resembles a protein found in the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes and GI tract and launched a catastrophic attack on their own tissues. “Experts” who claimed asymptomatic paediatric Sars2 infections equals mild were catastrophically wrong.

Covid is consistently a leading cause of US child mortality. Paediatric mortality has increased markedly with each year of the pandemic in the US, UK and elsewhere. In 2022, over six times as many children died from Covid than from flu in the US."

[jcmarchi]

Genetically Modified Pluripotent Stem Cells May Evade Immunological Rejection After Transplantation - Technology Org

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/genetically-modified-pluripotent-stem-cells-may-evade-immunological-rejection-after-transplantation-technology-org/

Genetically Modified Pluripotent Stem Cells May Evade Immunological Rejection After Transplantation - Technology Org

Researchers say the genetically engineered stem cells also could pave the way for new regenerative medicine treatments for diseases such as Type 1 diabetes.

Deepta Bhattacharya, who is on the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center for Advanced Molecular and Immunological Therapies advisory council, is a professor of immunobiology in the UArizona College of Medicine – Tucson. Image credit: UArizona Health Sciences

One of the biggest barriers to regenerative medicine is immunological rejection by the recipient, a problem researchers at the University of Arizona Health Sciences are one step closer to solving after genetically modifying pluripotent stem cells to evade immune recognition.

The study “Engineering Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Lines to Evade Xenogeneic Transplantation Barriers” was published in the journal Stem Cell Reports last week.

Pluripotent stem cells can turn into any type of cell in the body. The findings offer a viable path forward for pluripotent stem cell-based therapies to restore tissues that are lost in diseases such as Type 1 diabetes or macular degeneration.

“There has been a lot of excitement for decades around the field of pluripotent stem cells and regenerative medicine,” said principal investigator Deepta Bhattacharya, a professor in the UArizona College of Medicine – Tucson’s Department of Immunobiology. “What we have learned from the experiences of organ transplantation is that you have to have matched donors, but the person receiving the transplant often still requires lifelong immune suppression, and that means there is increased susceptibility to infections and cancer. We’ve been trying to figure out what it is that you need to do to those stem cells to keep them from getting rejected, and it looks like we have a possible solution.”

To test their hypothesis, Bhattacharya and the research team used CRISPR-Cas9 technology, “genetic scissors” that allow scientists to make precise mutations within the genome at extremely specific locations.

Using human pluripotent stem cells, the team located the specific genes they believed were involved in immune rejection and removed them. Prior research into pluripotent stem cells and immune rejection looked at different parts of the immune system in isolation. Bhattacharya and his colleagues from The New York Stem Cell Foundation Research Institute, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the Washington University School of Medicine opted to test their genetically modified stem cells in a complete and functional immune system.

“The immune system is really complicated and there are all sorts of ways it can recognize and reject things,” said Bhattacharya, a member of the UArizona Cancer Center and the BIO5 Institute who also serves on the UArizona Health Sciences Center for Molecular and Immunological Therapies advisory council.

“Transplantation across species, across the xenogeneic barrier, is difficult and is a very high bar for transplantation. We decided if we could overcome that barrier, then we could start to have confidence that we can overcome what should be a simpler human-to-human barrier, and so that’s basically what we did.”

The research team tested the modified stem cells by placing them into mice with normal, fully functioning immune systems. The results were promising – the genetically engineered pluripotent stem cells were integrated and persisted without being rejected.

“That has been the holy grail for a while,” Bhattacharya said. “You might actually have a chance of being able to perform pluripotent stem cell-based transplants without immune suppressing the person who is receiving them. That would be an important advance, both clinically and from the simple standpoint of scale. You wouldn’t have to make individualized therapies for every single person – you can start with one pluripotent stem cell type, turn it into the cell type you want and then give it to almost anyone.”

The next steps, Bhattacharya said, include testing the genetically modified pluripotent stem cells in specific disease models. He is already working with collaborators at The New York Stem Cell Foundation and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation to test the technology in animal models for Type 1 diabetes.

“We needed to overcome the immune system first,” Bhattacharya said. “The next steps are how do we use these cells? We set the bar pretty high for our study and the fact that we were successful gives us some confidence that this can really work.”

Bhattacharya also is the co-founder of startup Clade Therapeutics in Boston, which licensed the technology through Tech Launch Arizona, the University of Arizona’s commercialization arm. Clade Therapeutics is establishing a robust cellular platform using stem cell-derived immune cells for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases. The company said it hopes to begin clinical trials by the end of the year.

Co-authors on the paper include Hannah Pizzato, research specialist in the College of Medicine – Tucson’s Department of Immunobiology; Dr. Paula Alonso-Guallart, James Woods and Frederick J. Monsma Jr. of The New York Stem Cell Foundation Research Institute; Jon P. Connelly and Shondra M. Pruett-Miller of the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital; and Dr. Todd A. Fehniger and John P. Atkinson of the Washington University School of Medicine.

This work was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health under award no. R21AI132910 and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (OPP1206188).

Source: University of Arizona

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[theonlyladyt]

The No.1 Poo & Gut Scientist: If Your Poo Looks Like This Go To A Doctor...

Hello lovelies this was a very interesting podcast with someone I’ve followed for a while now. His information has helped me with gastrointestinal issues. Mr V has healed his leaky gut through the information Dr Will Bulsiewicz has given via interviews such as these. (it’s time stamped in chapters for anyone who want to skip to parts relevant to themselves) it’s a long interview but I was happy…