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home:alternate:spontaneous_remission [09.01.2019] – [Common misperceptions] sallieqhome:alternate:spontaneous_remission [09.14.2022] (current) – external edit 127.0.0.1
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 One of the important factors in how symptoms of illness relapse and remit, is that infections relapse and remit. For example, //Staphylococcus aureus// is a major human pathogen which plays a role in deep tissue infections, osteomyelitis, and chronic lung infections.  One of the important factors in how symptoms of illness relapse and remit, is that infections relapse and remit. For example, //Staphylococcus aureus// is a major human pathogen which plays a role in deep tissue infections, osteomyelitis, and chronic lung infections. 
  
-A key characteristic of these infections is that relapse can occur months or years after an apparent cure. These relapses, Dr. Bettina Löffler and her team from the Institut für Medizinische Mikrobiologie in Münster, Germany, [[http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110126081521.htm|believe]] are due to phenotype switching, a change in the bacterial behaviour. After infection and invasion of the patient's host cells, the bacteria form small colony variants (SCVs), tiny bacterial subpopulations that can evade the immune system and many antibiotics and grow slowly.(({{pubmed>long:21268281}}))+A key characteristic of these infections is that relapse can occur months or years after an apparent cure. These relapses, Dr. Bettina Löffler and her team from the Institut für Medizinische Mikrobiologie in Münster, Germany, [[https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110126081521.htm|believe]] are due to phenotype switching, a change in the bacterial behaviour. After infection and invasion of the patient's host cells, the bacteria form small colony variants (SCVs), tiny bacterial subpopulations that can evade the immune system and many antibiotics and grow slowly.(({{pmid>long:21268281}}))
  
 Microbes ability to easily switch between forms explains both their persistence and the variability in patients' symptom presentation from one time point to another. Microbes ability to easily switch between forms explains both their persistence and the variability in patients' symptom presentation from one time point to another.
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 ===== Sarcoidosis ===== ===== Sarcoidosis =====
  
-Researchers at Jefferson Medical Center in Philadelphia found a 74% relapse rate in sarcoidosis patients with treatment-induced remission, while only 60% of patients identified as having a favorable prognosis actually sustained remission over 130 months.(({{pubmed>long:9118698}}))+Researchers at Jefferson Medical Center in Philadelphia found a 74% relapse rate in sarcoidosis patients with treatment-induced remission, while only 60% of patients identified as having a favorable prognosis actually sustained remission over 130 months.(({{pmid>long:9118698}}))
  
 Many argue that the most accurate study of sarcoidosis to date is the 2003 NIH ACCESS study, which followed 215 sarcoidosis patients for two years - a period during which it is sometimes mistakenly thought that the disease can go into remission. The study found that measures of sarcoidosis severity remain unchanged over the two-year period, despite the fact that many patients were using corticosteroids and other drugs. Many argue that the most accurate study of sarcoidosis to date is the 2003 NIH ACCESS study, which followed 215 sarcoidosis patients for two years - a period during which it is sometimes mistakenly thought that the disease can go into remission. The study found that measures of sarcoidosis severity remain unchanged over the two-year period, despite the fact that many patients were using corticosteroids and other drugs.
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 It has also been argued that there is a gap between how patients themselves and members of the medical community perceive success and improvement, as well as their concept of cure. The medical community has a tendency to be satisfied by results that show a patient has stabilized thanks to a particular medication, without taking into account systemic effects of disease, such as fatigue and pain, which are often excluded as endpoints. It has also been argued that there is a gap between how patients themselves and members of the medical community perceive success and improvement, as well as their concept of cure. The medical community has a tendency to be satisfied by results that show a patient has stabilized thanks to a particular medication, without taking into account systemic effects of disease, such as fatigue and pain, which are often excluded as endpoints.
  
-A [[http://www.wired.com/medtech/health/news/2005/03/66806|2005 article]] on gene therapy described patients who had undergone treatment as “basically cured” – even though three had developed leukemia and one died.+A [[https://www.wired.com/medtech/health/news/2005/03/66806|2005 article]] on gene therapy described patients who had undergone treatment as “basically cured” – even though three had developed leukemia and one died.
  
 The above example is a misuse of the word “cure.” For one thing, an actual cure results from a treatment that allows all participants to become well, including no long-term side effects or harm. Did the above study check in with its subjects a decade down the road in order to access their health years later? Probably not. But if they did, the subjects were probably symptomatic again, as gene therapy has not yet been adopted as an effective way to treat disease. The above example is a misuse of the word “cure.” For one thing, an actual cure results from a treatment that allows all participants to become well, including no long-term side effects or harm. Did the above study check in with its subjects a decade down the road in order to access their health years later? Probably not. But if they did, the subjects were probably symptomatic again, as gene therapy has not yet been adopted as an effective way to treat disease.
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 {{tag>Alternate_models}} {{tag>Alternate_models}}
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 ===== Notes and comments ===== ===== Notes and comments =====
  
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-===== References =====+===== References =====</nodisp> 
home/alternate/spontaneous_remission.txt · Last modified: 09.14.2022 by 127.0.0.1
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