fun fact sometimes languages sound weird to u because they’re not commonly spoken, and sometimes they’re not commonly spoken because a concerted effort was made in the past to eradicate them from existence. so. maybe not something to play into.
“Two researchers in the US and Australia have discovered important mechanisms that prevent B cells from attacking the body’s own tissues in autoimmune diseases like arthritis, lupus, and multiple sclerosis—and in the process have won a prestigious prize.
Normally, the body’s immune system protects us from viruses, bacteria, and foreign substances. However, in autoimmune diseases, the immune system starts attacking tissues in the body instead.
Researchers had long tried to discover the cause of autoimmune diseases. But, Christopher Goodnow and David Nemazee, independently of each other, adopted a new approach.
They asked why we do not all develop these diseases. Their focus was on B cells which, together with white blood cells and T cells, are the building blocks of our complex immune system.
“They have given us a new and detailed understanding of the mechanisms that normally prevent faulty B cells from attacking tissues in the body, explaining why most of us are not affected by autoimmune diseases,” says Olle Kämpe, member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and chair of the Crafoord Prize committee that awarded the pair 6 million Swedish kronor ($600,000).
Neutralize B cells
In recent years, physicians have started to experiment by using existing drugs to neutralize B cells for patients with severe autoimmune diseases, including lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and multiple sclerosis, which has proven to be very effective at improving their quality of life.
Thanks to this year’s Crafoord Prize Laureates, we have gained fundamental new knowledge about what is happening in the immune system during autoimmune disease attacks.
“This also paves the way for development of new forms of therapies that eventually can cure these diseases—or might prevent them in the future,” said one professor of clinical immunology at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences…
More details from the video, since the article glosses over the particulars:
"The laureates discovered what is now called B cell tolerance.
When B cells develop in the bone marrow, not all of them are perfect. To remove the faulty ones, a mechanism starts, in which defective cells are programmed to destroy themself through apoptosis.
The laureates discovered two new mechanisms that are used if some of the bad cells are left. Re-editing, where the immune system alters the combination of receptors, and anergy, that silences B cells with self-reactive receptors.
The laureates were able to demonstrate that these mechanisms sometimes fail. This means that faulty B cells can cause an attack on the body’s own tissues – leading to autoimmune diseases.
Thanks to the laureate’s discoveries, doctors like Anders Bengtsson soon felt able to start treating patients with lupus, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and many other autoimmune diseases, with medicines that eradicated B cells.
Anders Bengtsson: "I’m very happy that B cells has gotten so much attention because of the laureates. I have seen my patients getting so much better and getting a better life.”
Autoimmune patient: “Today, I feel very good. I really have hope in the research that it will revolutionise things and perhaps even cure it all. That’s what I want, hope for, and believe in.”“
-Article via Good News Network, April 6, 2025. Video via The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, January 29, 2025.
nearly every character pedro pascal plays is like a charismatic intimidating figure with some sort of skill in combat meanwhile every photo i see of that man irl has this energy
taking this out of the reblogs of my last post @deez-no-relation because I think it’s important and its own thought.
There isn’t any place similar to Tumblr on the internet. Here and now is the last shreds of an internet that was, an internet that could exist without monetization. An internet that lasted through so many ~pivots to video~, an internet that is text and gif and photo first. An internet that is driven by serendipity and the impetus of the user to do the searching, the digging, the work that is just handed to you by algorithms on other sites for the purpose of better advertising to you.
The best part about Tumblr is the reason why it can’t monetize and I have been hitting up against this wall for literal years. There’s magic here because it’s one of the places that hasn’t been overrun by ads. Every social site’s business model relies on those midrolls, prerolls, in between story slides, because the money is what keeps them running.
Someone joked about making Tumblr a UNESCO World Heritage site and honestly? That’s where my brain goes, too. Tumblr is a library. Tumblr is a museum. Tumblr is a third place. Tumblr is where people can go to be inspired and go feral over shit they love and indulge in passion and process their shit. How do you monetize that safely?
@taylorswift honestly this is your moment to bankroll Tumblr and save the internet (just kidding….) (unless…..)
Based on the results they give in the abstract, it seems like the Depo-Provera shot specifically increases the risk of intracranial meningioma (brain tumor) from 0.01% to 0.05%. So, pretty much still in the “fuck all of a percent” category, but it’s actually a bigger difference than it sounds. To stick with the dice analogy, depo takes you from rolling a d10000 to a d2000 (assuming rolling a 1 = brain tumor.)
BUT — that was not the only medication they studied. It was just one they highlighted because it’s so commonly used as birth control.
Other medications increased the risk considerably more, including some used for HRT in transfem people.
I looked up the brand names for each and linked my sources below. I am not a doctor or a mathematician, so please take this info with a grain of salt and talk to your doctor if you’re concerned. My silly dice analogies are not medical advice. Also - the average age of people in the study was 56. If you’re much younger than that, your baseline risk of cancer in general is likely to be lower than in the study. Please don’t panic.
Also formulated in combination with other drugs. I am not sure if the study linked in the previous post also looked at these combinations, so please keep in mind that the risk amounts given may not accurately apply to medications under these brand names: Andro-Diane, Bella HEXAL 35, Chloe, Cypretil, Cypretyl, Cyproderm, Diane, Diane Mite, Diane-35, Dianette, Dixi 35, Drina, Elleacnelle, Estelle, Estelle-35, Ginette, Linface, Minerva, Vreya, and Zyrona; Climen, Climene, Elamax, and Femilar [5]
Risk increased from 0.3% to 4.9% (d333 vs ~d20 (technically more like 20.4). This is a BIG jump.)
nomegestrol acetate
Brand names: Lutenyl, or combined with estradiol as Zoely or Naemis. [6] Again, not sure how much this study applies to the combinations.
Risk increased from 1.2% to 5.1% (~d83 vs ~d20 (technically 19.6))
chlormadinone acetate
Brand names: Clordion, Gestafortin, Gestogan, Lormin, Lutéran, Lutoral, Menstridyl, Non-Ovlon, Normenon, Prococyd, Progestormon, Prostal, Synchrogest, Verton, and others; combined with EE as Belara and Belarina, but keep in mind that the risks may be different for the combined drugs. [7]
Risk increased from 1.0% to 3.5% (d100 vs ~ d28 (technically 28.5)
Please talk to your doctor if you have concerns and are taking one of these medications. Everyone deserves to be informed about which dice they’re rolling.
ALT
ALT
