Resetting immune system in bid to beat scleroderma
(AP
<p><a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/health/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080923/ap_on_he_me/med_healthbeat_scleroderma"><img src="http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20080922/capt.e29c12e2845a498c9e7b16a87f417959.healthbeat_scleroderma_wx103.jpg?x=130&y=94&q=85&sig=wwdOAyJ4MrFERB212Y30Qg--" align="left" height="94" width="130" alt="Bari Martz is shown at her home in Parkland, Fla., Friday, Sept. 19, 2008. Studies in the U.S. and in Europe are looking at methods to re-set immunity for patients with severe scleroderma, a disease where the body's immune cells run amok. If successful, such strategies could cast new light on therapies for other autoimmune diseases. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)" border="0" /></a>AP - First Bari Martz's fingers turned blue. Then she started gasping for breath, and her joints stiffened so that she couldn't even open her hands. Doctors diagnosed scleroderma, part of an insidious family of diseases where the immune system attacks a patient's own body, sometimes enough to kill.</p><br clear="all"/>
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