A View of Rheumatoid Arthritis
(From EurekAlert!). Good, healthy science involves regular challenges to the present orthodoxy: "Why do nearly 95 percent of [rheumatoid arthritis or RA] patients have a common sequence of DNA, which scientists call a shared epitope, and why do patients with this DNA sequence have more severe forms of the disease than patients without it? ... Although the hypothesis that RA is an autoimmune disorder is widely accepted, there is no convincing evidence that it is correct. We see this same type of association [in] other diseases, which we know are not autoimmune diseases ... the shared epitope can trigger a signaling cascade that leads to increased production of nitric oxide [or NO] in other cells ... Overproduction of NO inhibits apoptosis - the natural process that leads to cell death. Resistance to apoptosis is a common trait found in cells lining the joints of RA patients, and is believed to lead to disease symptoms." To see quite different views - all backed up by good science - is an advance sign of more rapid progress towards a cure in the years ahead.
Link: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-10/uomh-uso103006.php