Arthritis is a term often used to mean any disorder that affects joints. Symptoms generally include joint pain and stiffness. Other symptoms may include redness, warmth, swelling, and decreased range of motion of the affected joints. In some types of arthritis, other organs are also affected. Onset can be gradual or sudden.
A disease is a particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism and is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that are associated with specific signs and symptoms. A disease may be caused by external factors such as pathogens or by internal dysfunctions. For example, internal dysfunctions of the immune system can produce a variety of different diseases, including various forms of immunodeficiency, hypersensitivity, allergies, and autoimmune disorders.
Gene therapy is a medical technology which aims to produce a therapeutic effect through the manipulation of gene expression or through altering the biological properties of living cells.
Progeria is a specific type of progeroid syndrome, also known as Hutchinson–Gilford syndrome or the Benjamin Button disease. A single gene mutation is responsible for progeria. The gene, known as lamin A (LMNA), makes a protein necessary for holding the nucleus of the cell together. When this gene gets mutated, an abnormal form of lamin A protein called progerin is produced. Progeroid syndromes are a group of diseases that causes individuals to age faster than usual, leading to them appearing older than they actually are. Patients born with progeria typically live to an age of mid-teens to early twenties.
Telomerase, also called terminal transferase, is a ribonucleoprotein that adds a species-dependent telomere repeat sequence to the 3' end of telomeres. A telomere is a region of repetitive sequences at each end of the chromosomes of most eukaryotes. Telomeres protect the end of the chromosome from DNA damage or from fusion with neighbouring chromosomes. The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster lacks telomerase, but instead uses retrotransposons to maintain telomeres.
Werner syndrome (WS) or Werner's syndrome, also known as "adult progeria", is a rare, autosomal recessive disorder which is characterized by the appearance of premature aging.
The farnesyltransferase inhibitors (FTIs) are a class of experimental cancer drugs that target protein farnesyltransferase with the downstream effect of preventing the proper functioning of the Ras (protein), which is commonly abnormally active in cancer.
Sanfilippo syndrome, also known as mucopolysaccharidosis type III (MPS III), is a rare autosomal recessive lysosomal storage disease that primarily affects the brain and spinal cord. It is caused by a buildup of large sugar molecules called glycosaminoglycans (AKA GAGs, or mucopolysaccharides) in the body's lysosomes.
Hypogammaglobulinemia is a problem with the immune system in which not enough gamma globulins are produced in the blood. This results in a lower antibody count, which impairs the immune system, increasing risk of infection. Hypogammaglobulinemia may result from a variety of primary genetic immune system defects, such as common variable immunodeficiency, or it may be caused by secondary effects such as medication, blood cancer, or poor nutrition, or loss of gamma globulins in urine, as in nonselective glomerular proteinuria. Patients with hypogammaglobulinemia have reduced immune function; important considerations include avoiding use of live vaccines, and take precautionary measures when traveling to regions with endemic disease or poor sanitation such as receiving immunizations, taking antibiotics abroad, drinking only safe or boiled water, arranging appropriate medical cover in advance of travel, and ensuring continuation of any immunoglobulin infusions needed.
Rejuvenation is a medical discipline focused on the practical reversal of the aging process.
Dyskeratosis congenita (DKC), also known as Zinsser-Engman-Cole syndrome, is a rare progressive congenital disorder with a highly variable phenotype. The entity was classically defined by the triad of abnormal skin pigmentation, nail dystrophy, and leukoplakia of the oral mucosa, and MDS/AML, but these components do not always occur. DKC is characterized by short telomeres. Some of the manifestations resemble premature ageing and cognitive impairment can be a feature. The disease initially mainly affects the skin, but a major consequence is progressive bone marrow failure which occurs in over 80%, causing early mortality.
Cohen syndrome is a very rare autosomal recessive genetic disorder with varied expression, characterised by obesity, intellectual disability, distinct craniofacial abnormalities and potential ocular dysfunction.
Hunter syndrome, or mucopolysaccharidosis type II, is a rare genetic disorder in which large sugar molecules called glycosaminoglycans build up in body tissues. It is a form of lysosomal storage disease. Hunter syndrome is caused by a deficiency of the lysosomal enzyme iduronate-2-sulfatase (I2S). The lack of this enzyme causes heparan sulfate and dermatan sulfate to accumulate in all body tissues. Hunter syndrome is the only MPS syndrome to exhibit X-linked recessive inheritance.
Robert Austrian was an American infectious diseases physician and, along with Maxwell Finland, one of the two most important researchers into the biology of Streptococcus pneumoniae in the 20th century.
Lonafarnib, sold under the brand name Zokinvy, is a medication used to reduce the risk of death due to Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome and for the treatment of certain processing-deficient progeroid laminopathies in people one year of age and older.
The anti-aging movement is a social movement devoted to eliminating or reversing aging, or reducing the effects of it. A substantial portion of the attention of the movement is on the possibilities for life extension, but there is also interest in techniques such as cosmetic surgery which ameliorate the effects of aging rather than delay or defeat it.
Gustav Gaudernack is a scientist working in the development of cancer vaccines and cancer immunotherapy. He has developed various strategies in immunological treatment of cancer. He is involved in several ongoing cellular and immuno-gene therapeutic clinical trials and his research group has put major efforts into the development of various T cell-based immunotherapeutic strategies.
BioViva is an American biotechnology company, based in Bainbridge Island, Washington, researching treatments to interfere in the ageing process in humans.
Charles Williams Flexner is an American physician, clinical pharmaceutical scientist, academic, author and researcher. He is a Professor of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Howard E. Gendelman is an American physician-scientist whose research intersects the disciplines of neuroimmunology, pharmacology, and infectious diseases. Gendelman was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His research is focused on harnessing immune responses for therapeutic gain in HIV/AIDS and Neurodegenerative disease. He is the Margaret R. Larson Professor of infectious diseases and internal medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) in Omaha.
