Word: colonize
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What does a stubbed toe or a splinter in a finger have to do with your risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, suffering a heart attack or succumbing to colon cancer? More than you might think. As scientists delve deeper into the fundamental causes of those and other illnesses, they are starting to see links to an age-old immunological defense mechanism called inflammation - the same biological process that turns the tissue around a splinter red and causes swelling in an injured toe. If they are right - and the evidence is starting to look pretty good - it could radically change...
This concept is so intriguing because it suggests a new and possibly much simpler way of warding off disease. Instead of different treatments for, say, heart disease, Alzheimer's and colon cancer, there might be a single, inflammation-reducing remedy that would prevent all three...
...course the granddaddy of all anti-inflammatories is aspirin, and millions of Americans already take it to prevent heart attacks. But evidence is growing that it may also fight colon cancer and even Alzheimer's by reducing inflammation in the digestive tract and the brain...
...inflammatory cycle is obvious - as with chronic heartburn, which continually bathes the lining of the esophagus with stomach acid, predisposing a person to esophageal cancer. Other times, it's less clear. Scientists are exploring the role of an enzyme called cyclo-oxygenase 2 (COX-2) in the development of colon cancer. COX-2 is yet another protein produced by the body during inflammation...
...polarizing figure. It's the ultimate gamble, and if she loses it, she could join her friend Waksal, who is imprisoned for securities fraud. In an ironic twist, Waksal's company, ImClone, the source of their troubles, has rebounded. Encouraging research on its colon-cancer drug Erbitux has sent the stock price back up to about $41, after it plunged to as little as $6 in the fall of 2002. This week, as federal prosecutors try to bottle up Stewart, another federal agency, the FDA, could release Erbitux for the public benefit...