2018 Nobel Prize awarded to cancer immunotherapy pioneers

In the 1990s, the two scientists made key discoveries that led to the development of promising new cancer-fighting immunotherapy drugs.

  • The two researchers, from the U.S. and Japan, made key discoveries about the immune system's response to cancer.
  • Their work showed how to block cancer cells from crippling white blood cells.
  • Still in its early stages, immunotherapy is a promising field in cancer research.
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immunotherapy immune system cancer drugs cancer white blood cells james allison tasuku honjo science Nobel Prize

Why highly intelligent people suffer from more mental and physical disorders

Your brain's heightened sensitivity can make you perceptive and creative. But it's a double-edged sword, researchers find.

Image source: Edvard Munch, The Scream c. 1893

People with high IQ are considered to have an advantage in many domains. They are predicted to have higher educational attainment, better jobs, and a higher income level. Yet, it turns out that a high IQ is also associated with various mental and immunological diseases like depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, ADHD as well as allergies, asthma, and immune disorders. Why is that? A new paper published in the journal Intelligence reviews the literature and explores the mechanisms that possibly underlie this connection.

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Family Conflict in Childhood May Affect Your Immune System as an Adult

The study had some interesting findings for the adult children of separated parents who were civil. 

 

A young girl who is scared. Flikr.

More and more, we’re learning about the mind-body connection and how it affects health. We’re also realizing that epigenetic changes from our parents and the emotional climate in which they lived, can plant negative seeds in us. In our own lives, medical researchers in the last several decades have figured out that chronically feeling negative emotions can weaken our immune system, while long-term positive ones boost it.

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immune system divorce negative emotions psychology childhood trauma chronic illness emotional microbiome