Health Watch is a Public Service of the Office of News and Publications and is intended to provide general information only and should not replace the advice of a medical professional. You should contact your physician if you have questions about any of these topics.
This week on "Healthwatch," we've been talking about laboratory research that may one day help prevent or cure disease. Some of this research has to focus on outsmarting the viruses that cause disease.
Scientists at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas have improved the understanding of how viruses beat the human immune system. The body has immune responses that should fight viruses and keep them from replicating in host cells, but viruses have developed their own ways to sidestep this immune response.
Dr. Michael Gale, the UT Southwestern microbiologist who led the research, says viruses keep evolving to adapt to the new ways the body develops to fight viruses.
This research could lead to more effective drugs for treating viral diseases like hepatitis, West Nile disease or even the flu or common cold.
###
March 2005
Health Watch is heard Monday through Friday nationwide on the "Stardust" format of ABC Satellite Radio. Call your local radio station and ask if they carry the program.
